Right as Rain

I am kind of an anomaly; I love weather that most people hate. I love winter and snow and minus 34 temperatures. I love cloudy days and cool summers. I also love rain. Most everybody loves a raging thunderstorm every now and then but I also enjoy a good, steady rain. I like misty, foggy rain, hard pounding rain, a constant drizzle, thundering sheets and intermittent showers. I just love rain.

I love how a good rain makes things grow. You just know that in the days following rain, there will be lush green grass, blooming flowers and the fields will be bursting with new growth. Rain washing everything clean and makes the world seem almost new and fresh again. A thunderstorm, though cool to watch, can often cause flash floods,  widespread damage and leave a big mess in its wake; but a constant rain is soaked into the ground as it comes down and leaves nothing but possibility when its done.

*Insert eminent jump to deep, philosophical analogy here ;-)*

I have been living in intermittent showers lately. I've not experienced a real storm yet but the threat of one is looming. I see the clouds in the distance and I'm not sure whether they are ominous, threatening storm clouds are light, fluffy benign clouds. I see them but I just don't know what they'll bring. No matter how long I stare at those clouds I won't know what they hold until they are right overhead.

You can go a little mental if you stare at clouds too long. You start to see things that aren't really there and you start to worry about what the clouds mean, which direction they are travelling and how they will disrupt your future plans. You can waste your life cloud watching and storm fretting if you're not careful.

Rain is normal and natural. Without a little rain every now and then how would things grow? When I think about the rain I've experienced I can see where I have grown or learned something about myself.  The rain has helped me to realize that I am stronger, smarter and more resilient than I thought. The rain has revealed patience, perseverance and optimism I didn't know was there, just under the surface.  The rain has also proven to be short term, it never lasts too long and it never destroys what is meant to be.

Although rain is often cold and uncomfortable, it can also be warm and refreshing. I don't spend too much time cloud watching, trying to figure out when the next rain is coming and if it'll be a light misting or a fierce storm. I just keep living my life, making plans and when it does rain I try to see it for what it is; not the end of the world but a time for growth and possibilities.

Right as rain ... I like that saying.

Many a man curses the rain that falls upon his head, and knows not that it brings abundance to drive away the hunger.
 ~Saint Basil