I’ve always avoided the rain. Secretly, I’ve really wanted to be like those people in the movies who joyfully run out in the rain, spinning amidst the drops with a blissful look on their faces. Their meaning is clear. They’re really living – the rest of us aren’t. Yet, when it starts to rain, I’m the one quickening my step to get underneath a store overhang, or waiting an extra 10 minutes until it slows before I make a dash for my car. My husband scoffs and makes comments about how no one melts in the rain, but frankly I’ve never seen him out there blissfully spinning circles, either.
All that changed this year on my birthday. I was up early and in the mood for a solitary walk, so I flipped open the shutters to check on the weather. It looked ominous. Still, I figured I could be out and back before the weather changed. I grabbed my umbrella, left the dog behind (it was MY birthday, after all, not his) and started out.
Halfway through, a few fat raindrops plunked on my bare arms, so I took preventative steps and put up my umbrella. Before long it was pouring and I was looking for a tree to dive under. Then I caught a smell. This was something I hadn’t smelled in awhile. It was rich, composty, some sort of mix of worms and flowers. I inhaled. I looked down and saw the water flowing down the side of the road with brown leaf boats racing along. I joined them, running beside the quick flowing water to see who would win. A few giggles burst out, and I was glad everyone was tucked into their houses and couldn’t see me slipping and dancing down the street.
The fabric of my pants clung to my bare skin as the staccato assault continued. I didn’t care. It was almost as if I could taste Spring. I wasn’t watching it out my window, it was baptizing me.
By the time my husband swung by in the car, pushing open the door to offer me a dry ride home, I was hooked. I smiled and waved him on. The unwrapping of this birthday gift was too decadent to hurry along…
Pearls for Writers: What is something that you avoid, thinking that it will be unpleasant, rather than diving in and experiencing the truth of it in the moment? Pick something and try it out. Then write…
Carolyn,
I don’t know how I missed this but you completely caught the feeling that I try to impart to people, to go ahead and TRY it (running in the rain or whatever it is) and let yourself be wet or silly, just allowing that naturalness to flow through the body.
Last night our neighborhood gathered at one house to celebrate “National Night Out”, where you spend time outdoors getting to know your neighbors. The fire truck and ambulance were there for the kids to climb on and look at. My highlight of the night was when they hooked the hoses up to the fire hydrant and shot a HUGE arc of water in the air, for about 20 minutes, I ran in the water and got soaked, just like the kids, water plastering my hair to my face, feet feeling the ground, shining eyes in every face that watched and participated. It is a moment that I take into my day today.