Summer rain

I love the sound of rain. It soothes my soul in a deep down way. It calms my nerves. It brings me joy.

Rain reminds me of wet childhood afternoons spent in blanket tents reading or playing in the puddle-covered grass. In Indonesia we had months of rain – monsoons that swept across the city with violence, thunder and lightening, wind that blew down huge trees and downpours that flooded gutters and yards. But when the rain was gentle and loving, we could play in it for hours. Certainly, the air cooled, but it was still warm enough to play, to run and climb, to invent games of living in the Okefenokee Swamp (thank you, Burl Ives!).

Here in Colorado’s summer, our rains are quite different. The clouds build over the mountains and the moisture they drop dramatically cools the air. I mean - really cools the air. In Colorado, kids don’t play in the rain much. It is just too cold. The water, the air, the grass. But in the summer months, when our days are plenty hot and few of us have air conditioning, I love our afternoon rains. 

They're usually accompanied by huge clouds, at least some thunder and lightening, but the rain itself is usually quiet, gentle and short-lived. And then the sun breaks through and everything just sparkles. Crisp, cool air blows in the windows, and the birds resume their song. It's quite  beautiful.

Rain makes me want to stop everything – turn off the tv, the phone, stop everything … and sit on the porch.

What do I love about rain? Why, just about everything!

… shining, leathery leaves on trees

… gray clouds that build, then burst

… the sounds of dripping eaves

… the calm that settles over my soul and says to me, “Rest.”