It was a mixed bag of weather and typically Irish; beautiful sunshine between torrential downpours. When I arrived at the airfield I could see some thunder showers pass in the distance but overhead was clear; a warm evening with just the gentlest breeze. I did my walk-around of the plane and everything was in order. To the west, I could clearly see that a build-up of cumulonimbus was on it's way. It would definitely upset proceedings but since the day's showers had been isolated, I was confident that it would clear well enough to let me get some circuits in before the next down-burst.
Back at the office, I collected my instructor and paperwork. We made our way back to the aircraft under darkening skies. By the time we signed the aircraft out the heavens had opened. Waiting in the doorway, I had a moment of stillness. A tired old Cessna, sounding like a galvanised shed being rattled by the light hail, while puddles appeared almost instantly on the uneven tarmac of the apron, their reflecting light somehow rejuvenating the little airplane, washing away the thousands of clumsy landings, like a cleansing shower after the vicissitudes of a day's toil.
Alternating glances from my watch to the sky and I knew that another ten or fifteen minutes and this deluge would pass away to the east. The clearance came and the sky to the west was clear of anything that would threaten the evening's flight. We sauntered out to the airplane, allowing the last misty drops of the shower settle before setting off. Taxi clearance obtained, we back-tracked to the eastern end of the runway, taking a little time to appreciate the rainbow now painted across the retreating clouds. A couple of minutes later and I was climbing out into crisp blue sky, the evening sun high above distant clouds, warm in my face.
The circuit was empty apart from our little machine pootling around and with my instructor sitting quietly beside me, the sky was mine and it felt like home. A couple of circuits and a greaser later, the sun was warming the surrounding fields and the lingering dampness formed a thin veil of mist giving the lush greenery and almost mystical appearance. There are evenings best sensed on the ground; the sound of grass, the scent of damp grass, the warmth of a gentle breeze but sometimes you never fully see until you've seen it from the air.
