It rained overnight last night.

The sound of f over night thunderstorm that always reminds me of the end of summer. The humidity that hangs in the air through the evening, and then with a nighttime sigh releases all that pent up energy in rumbles and flashes of light. And then it settles in to a steady even reason throughout the night. There kind of rain that makes you want to stay in bed the next day, buried under a thick warm quilt.

But I couldn’t, I’ve used up to many sick -but really just want to stay home- says already this year. And I needed to be in earlier than usual today if I want to leave early on Friday. So I get out of bed, pull my hair back in a clamp and do the bare minimum to meet the business casual dress code. I pack a very small lunch, make sure hubby is waking up so he gets in on time too, and I’m out the door.

It’s still drizzling when I start walking to work. The humidity turns me hair into a frizzy mess and I wonder why I even bothered in the first place. On my walk in I pass a little park where homeless people congregate. It’s emptier than usual today. Near the path that I walk on, there are park benches. This morning they have tarps thrown over them like little tents in the rain. Walking past one, there is a sound and a furtive repeated motion that is familiar. It’s the sounds and motions of a man pleasuring himself. My steps slow, the rain pits and pats against my umbrella.

I can’t see anything of him, I can only hear his moans and that quick desperate motion. I can see the tarp moving a little in time with those noises. I can only imagine what is happening beneath the tarp. I dont’ even realize that my steps have slowed to a stop. I’m standing still on the path, even with that littel park bench hidden under the tarp. I catch myself. I dont’ think he ever realized I was there, nothing he did changed, there was no indication that he knew someone was standing there.

I break out of the moment, and blushing I walk quickly the rest of the way to work. That little moment stuck in my mind fo the rest of the day.