Above a dry desert land, very far away, a cloud drifted curiously. It looked down on the sere hills and thirsty soils, and wondered at the dryness.

"Hey, Guys," it blew cheerfully to its friends. "How come we never rain down there?"

"Pshaw," scoffed one big thunderhead, extending a cirrus finger. "Last time we rained there, we ripped up most of the place with flash floods. See that city over there? Last time we rained there, there were traffic jams, mud slides, and all the flooded people cursed us for weeks."

"Oh, yes," sighed a nimbostratus. "But remember the wildflowers that year?"

"Really?" asked the first cloud. "Maybe if we just staretd a bit slower. Give that ground a chance to drink. I say we give it a try!"

"OK," said the nimbostratus. "Thunderhead? You gonna join us?"

And so they did. And there was still traffic jams and mudslides and cursing, but the wildflowers were once again spectacular.

--- Will we actually hike on the Meander? Well, that's a good question. We'll check the road conditions and temperature sometime Saturday afternoon, and decide from there. The weather predictions are good, but I lack confidence that our trails are really ready to hike yet. So be prepared to hike, but also be aware that that hike may just be around the Quagg living room again.

Phone in comments to 310.210.3347, meil 'em to the postal address skillfully concealed elsewhere on this page, or email 'em to samuelg@themeander.org

• "The Brook" by Alfred Lord Tennyson
• "How Do You Know It's a Poem" by Carol Armstrong
• "Summer Camp" by David Levine
• "The Riddle" by Anonymous
• excerpts from God's Gotta Go by George Carlin from Napalm and Silly Putty by George Carlin
• "Divorce Poem" by Jeff Aymar

All misspellings, misattributions, omissions or errors in naming should be construed as Acts of God, directed through yours truly (for reasons at which we as mere mortals may only guess...)