rain

I once used Madonna's song "Rain" in ESL classes. That particular song used a lot of easy-to-comprehend visualization of the idea of love and emotions that surround love.

It was a favorite lesson of older students with life experience. Younger students with budding interests in learning to differentiate between love-lust-infatuation, hormonaly-driven attraction triangle also enjoyed learning new poetry to match their newfound sentiments.

We have not had rain in over a month here, until yesterday. I was mildly disappointed to see on the radar map that, by about noon yesterday, most of Fay's remnants had already passed us by, leaving behind what seemed to be mere droplets of the precious liquid our gardens and grasses are thirsting.

The sound of the rain pouring outside awoke me in the early morning hours this morning and, although it has been a gray, heavy day with a humid chill that does not allow your towels to dry from shower to next day's shower, my heart began to beat a little slower and my mind began to whirr at a slightly decreased speed...

...a piece of home. A piece of Oregon. A piece of who I am.

It felt good. And I have relaxed.

I love to feel the rain on my fingertips and on my scalp. I enjoy drenching my hair by walking in the rain but then avoid looking into mirrors as I hate how I look (yes, I am vain) with soaking wet hair. If I meet someone along the way, I smile--hoping that the sparkle in my eyes and my smile will shine like the sun through the heavy clouds and that my mop of hair will be ignored.

A little wind would be nice, as I thoroughly enjoy stormy weather, but just rain is acceptable. So pure...

For me, today, this has been a nice finale to the summer vacation. A cleansing, a preparation for new beginnings next week.

If you don't remember Madonna's song, or are too young (!) to know who she even is...here is a snippit. Enjoy the memories.