Bethany Beach, Delaware, July 21, 2015

★★★★ Clouds thickened over a humid morning. An immense bead of sweat slid down the three-year-old’s face as he test-pedaled a bicycle on training wheels around inside of the rental shop. The children rode slowly back home, and then the bikes had to be parked in the living room for protection. Thunder boomed and the crape myrtle tossed. The floor vibrated. White sheets of rain slammed into the parking lot and buffeted the deck like wave spray breaking over a ship. A solid sheet of water poured down the kitchen window. The children fretted about whether the house was genuinely waterproof. The storm held at its peak for a good while, then subsided. A lesser shower followed and passed too. There were puddles in the bike lanes. Another mass of clouds built up, but then the sun broke through. The late sky was clear; laughing gulls flew by, tinged pink.