come on with the rain.

"into each life some rain must fall"  - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow 

It's been raining here for 4 days straight.  On my way to meet a friend for dinner, I saw an entire front yard underwater, an orange sign advising of potential street flooding, and a jogger with proper reflective gear, but no umbrella.  Yes, I understand that an umbrella hinders full workout potential... but as I drove by, I thought, "man, he is SO wet"... and all that on a ten minute drive.   I guess I should back up, and say that last Friday was gorgeous.  Around here, we tend to have a good understanding of what "in like a lion, out like a lamb" really means for March.  Friday was the exception.  Friday was the tease that people will cling to, and remark in a wishful fashion, "I hope this weather sticks around!"  inevitably, it doesn't.  And so, like i said above, the rain came... and hasn't stopped.   Instead, people are answering greetings like "how are you?" with, "oh man, wet!" and saying goodbye with statements like, "stay dry!"

Since the rain, I've missed a block party, used the word "hibernate" to describe my saturday activities, and avoided wearing my new shoes for fear that they would be prematurely ruined by the rain/dirt combination... blah.  My granny called twice yesterday... both times, worried about the potential of the pooling water in her backyard finding it's way into her garage.  Which in turn, lead her train of thought to the basement... and what company should she call to get all that (hypothetical) water out?!?! It's soggy.  There are puddles. And maybe, blow drying your hair this morning was borderline pointless.  People are moving a little faster... scurrying from house to car. car to building. hoping that by running into the rain, you get less wet then the rain falling onto you. After all, rain can't touch what rain can't catch... can it??? 

Everybody's talking about it, and everybody is experiencing it.  But I can't help but think, that everybody (myself included) isn't appreciating it.  

"Snow not enough to help western NV with drought"

"California could suffer Australia-like drought"

"Drought conditions worry farmers"

All are titles of articles that were in today's news. 

Thankfully, I have a dad that's good at reminding me of all the gifts we should be thankful for.  When I made some inessential comment about the weather, he said, "Em, you know there are people in this world that would fall to their knees in thankfulness for this rain? rain is good." And that was it. It wasn't meant to make me feel bad, but rather to put the puddles into perspective.  We are a blessed people. 

So today, when the biller stopped by our office, and responded to "how are things with you?" with a "good, but it could stop raining!" I kept my thoughts to myself, but gained appreciation of my new perspective on the weather.  

Yes, I know... too much rain can be bad too... but you won't find me singing, "rain, rain, go away..."  anytime soon.  Plus, the good 'ol weatherman says that tomorrow will be party cloudy, which also equates to mostly sunny... and until then, i'll just wear my rain boots and follow Gene Kelly's lead :)