The sun has risen, the waning moon is bright white against a blue sky with only a scattering of thin, pink, fluffy clouds, and the autumn colors are beginning to catch the rays of the sun.  But as I walk along the road beside the trees, there is the distinct sound of drops – many drops, raindrops – hitting the leaves up in the canopy.  It rained yesterday, but this morning, there are no rain clouds anywhere nearby.  How can there be raindrops?

All last night, the leaves up in the canopy were fully exposed to the clear sky, open to the universe with nothing to hold in what little heat they might have absorbed beneath the clouds the day before.  That heat radiated away, the temperature dropped below freezing, and the foliage was coated with ice (whether white or clear, I can’t tell).  These are trees that can tolerate frost – they live in New England, after all.  Their leaves are about to die anyway, and frost will not kill them any faster.

When sunlight hit the leaves after dawn, the leaves quickly warmed above freezing and their coating of frost melted rapidly, dripping down to the leaves below (amazingly little hit the ground, or me).  And that’s what I heard, a false rain falling as frost released its grip.  The melting will end soon, but for the moment, it is a delightful mismatch of sky and sound as this bright, sunny day begins with rain.