Vapor, liquid, ice... will the real water please stand up?

 

There is a sound happening in this transformation, but I cannot hear it. It probably resembles the hiss of a threatened jaguar, or the sigh of a weary engine pulling into the station at midnight. 

 

Sometimes I hiss, or sigh, when I am threatened, or something stops me in my tracks. I suppose it is a miracle that the pent up energy is dispersed without damage. My hubby has learned that sometimes I need to blow off steam, or growl.

 

The other day I had a tough drive through New York City traffic, with a GPS that likes practical jokes. 

 

"Arriving at home, on left." Home????? What are you talking about! I have not the faintest idea where we are!! 

 

I stored up the angst on the trip, feeling it expand to fill my chest, until finally I flopped on the couch in my own living room. Sssssssssssss....I expected the hissing to go on for some time, but John listened without becoming defensive and it was over in a puff of smoke. He could have listened more, but I was done. Was that it? I suppose I could say it all again, but actually I don't need to. I told him and the pressure was released. Where did the feelings go? Did they sublime into the atmosphere?

 

He is a wise man. He has learned, faster than I have, that emotions race through me like a freight train, and if either of us stands on the tracks there will be bloodshed. But if he can tug me off in time, like those heroes we read about, the danger passes and we are still standing. He holds me on the platform, watching the thirty nine cars loaded down with worry, regret, jealousy, rancor, and fear go speeding by.