The warm rain tumbled from the gutter in one of those midsummer downpours as I hastened across the lawn behind my house and took shelter in the pool Breaststroking up and down I nosed along eyes just at water level Each raindrop exploded in a momentary bouncing fountain that turned into a bubble and burst The best moments were when the storm intensified drowning birdsong and a haze rose off the water as though the pool itself were rising to meet the lowering sky