rain in the delta... amazing, shocking, fabulous. the rain is creeping up the sidewalks of the high school where i teach, dousing the students' shoes with wet, sloppy, wormy gunk. the students are clamoring around, hoping beyond hope that the day will end before the bell rings at 3:30. this is the only place i've ever been where the schools let out early because of rain. it's only happened once in the two months that i've been here, but that was quite the occassion. so, today, the sidewalk outside of my classroom is drenched with worms and water, and the students are in a hurry to slide between the raindrops as they sneak through the overhang that has been designed (poorly) to protect them from the rain and the snow and the other undesirable elements of nature.