I saw black rain today. I had heard about it before, raining down muck mud through a rolling black dust cloud.


It was quitting time, tired and sun-drained we had wound up the cords, put away the tools and equipment right when the wind started gusting from the south. I looked up as clouds swept over the early evening sun, turned to the left and saw a billowing black cloud charging over the fertile drained swamp farmland.

We ran for cover in the closest building, stood just inside the overhead door. I fumbled with a crinkled dollar and the Pepsi machine right outside as the blowing muck hit, driving into me like the waves of a sandblaster. I stepped inside as the dirt swept by. Minutes later without letting up the rain started to fall in piles, big coal black drops coated everything.