The classroom by the river

Italy's great weather sometimes seems to be a myth without foundation. In Verona it has been raining for three consecutive days. The Adige river is getting bigger and bigger by the minute. The fact that we live close by the river has prompted the kids to go and check, most importantly to report on how the trees are doing. The trees live on the banks of the river, but are now flooded so that you can only see their tops. You can tell that the waters of the Adige have come all the way down from the Alps and that it must have rained a lot there too.
One day in early fall we went up all the way to the Alto Adige into the Val Venosta where the Adige is little more than a stream. Oh, how much I like being able to take these strolls to the river front, to stand there with the kids in pouring rain, discussing rivers and streams, wondering if the water will uproot the trees, why it actually rains at all, and why eventually the Adige's waters will end up in the sea - oh, and why sea water is salty, of course. It's nasty weather and those few people who happen to pass by do so in a hurry. And tomorrow, finally, there's going to be some sun, so the weather forecast tells me.