about 2 miles away from my house and 25 minutes into my walk, the light drizzle turned into an intense stream of water. my first reaction was to squint my eyes and try to shelter myself from the pouring rain beating down on my baseball cap. when i came to the realization that the resistance wasn’t protecting me from getting wet, i decided to open my eyes and walk tall through the rainstorm. after all, it’s what i had been wanting. i had been looking forward to the rain since i heard about it coming a couple of days ago. finally, it was here and i was going to enjoy it, let it fall on me any way it wished.
by the time i got home i was soaked. i sat in my house listening to it beat upon my roof, watching it drip fiercely on my wooden deck as it fell from the sky. i was smiling from ear to ear as though i was seeing it for the first time. it reminded me of children playfully running through mud puddles and then looking through the window eager to go back outside after being sent into the house.
i’m from texas. we have huge downpours throughout the year. i grew up with thunderstorms. BIG (as everything in texas is) thunderstorms that would last for hours as bolts of lightning flash across the sky. you can smell the rain before it finds its way into the atmosphere. i miss them dearly. out here in southern california, a mist is considered rain. i call it a tease. i always want more. the clouds become dark and i instantly feel the storm moving in. i imagine going home and lying under my quilts with some hot tea while the massive shower does its dance. then all of a sudden, in the middle of my daydream, the clouds disappear and the sun is shining brightly again without even so much as a tiny trickle. what the hell? what just happened?
today, i got my rain. i feel renewed.
