.Drip...Drip...Drop.

I love the rain....in fact, I would take a rainy thunderstorm once a week if I had a choice. It soothes me....and gives me an excuse to move a little slower and take things in that I normally wouldn't. I love the smell of it, the way it looks on the grass, and the way the air feels when you walk into it just after a good storm...crisp and cool (most of the time) 

I used to hate thunderstorms.....I have a vivid memory from when I was about 4 or 5 and I ran and hid under my dad's desk....he didn't see me under there and kicked me on accident when pulling in his chair--I squealed, of course, and it was then he told me that only Oscar The Grouch is afraid of thunderstorms and if I wasn't careful, the next time I went to hide under his desk, Mr. The Grouch himself might be waiting. Well that scared me enough to fall in love with them....I slept in the upstairs of our house at the time and when it would rain I'd go to the window and watch...even though I knew I should be sleeping....it became a relationship for me....the lightning and the thunder, and a little girl wishing a thousand wishes and talking to the Heavens as if they were her best friends. 

Not much has changed since then....except that I now know Oscar The Grouch lives and stays on Sesame Street...and I now have my own home where I open all the blinds to watch the rain hit the windows in some sort of rhythm. Maybe I love it so much because I know I can always count on the rain....I can count on it to be wet, the sky to be dark (usually), and I have relied on it my whole life to be the perfect lullaby just before bed. The thing I love the most though....are the rainbows.....little glimpses of Heaven wrapped into 7 or so magical colors, in perfect alignment, arching the sky. I always wondered how a rainbow happened until I just stopped worrying about it and, instead, took in the awe and wonder of it all. 

There are few things I rely on in my life as much as I do the rain....the pitter patter of the raindrops calms me....brings me inside my own head long enough to sort things out and sets me on my way again when the sunshine peeks through the clouds. Most of them time people associate these gloomy days with gloomy moods....but for me, it brings much needed peace and consistency....and while it is even difficult for me to get out of bed on these rainy days, it doesn't take much for me to go to my own windows and wish a thousand wishes.