Rainy Days and Smiles

I love to drive at night, especially on a rainy night.  Maybe it's the way dull and dreary streets shine slick black and reflecting light when fully covered in rain water.  Maybe it's the way the rain drops on my windshield capture and reflect light like tiny multi-colored stars in a midnight sky.  Maybe its just the scent the Earth gives off after being washed clean from a gentle rain.  I'm not really sure what it is but it can move me to bliss at times for some unknown reason.  I had a bit of a drive last night and was enjoying it so much and my mind swept back to earlier in the day.  At work I had been cooped up inside most of the day because of the rain but I found an opportunity to make a break from the work phones and email and escaped outside with my umbrella.  I walked slowly under a gently falling rain that made the most beautiful sound as it hit my umbrella.  With not a soul about because of the rain, I had the whole of the parking lot to myself.  I realized I must have been a sight smiling like a mere girl while walking out in the rain but in those moments, I just didn't care.  I had to escape the artificial light, manufactured and filtered air and get myself out under the sky whether or not it was filled with clouds and falling rain.  I walked slowly and purposefully for a good 15 minutes and that is all it seemed to take to wash away all the stress of the day.  I felt renewed and overjoyed just to be outside and the rain, well, that was just icing on the cake to me.

I live in the coastal region of what remains mostly mountainous and desert terrain.  We don't often have much weather to speak of and so the rain is often a beautiful treat.  The heart of the city and just beyond it in suburbia is where I live and work and it isn't a bad place to exist in but sometimes its nice to have a change.  And there it is, I now see and feel that one thing I've been unconsciously both struggling and striving to create without realizing it -- change.  I do not fear change as most do.  Oh yes, I temporarily feel the discomfort of it and sometimes fear like everyone else does but I'm quick to reason and wrestle with my own thoughts to the definitive truthful realization that without change we are left with nothing but the same.  For me, the same day in and day out is what my life is all about until I look to and then create these rare moments where I break the chains of same and do something spur of the moment, simple and different.  Like a simple walk in the rain or driving in it with the windows rolled down so I can feel, hear and smell it. 

We made a quick stop at the store last night before we fully completed our drive.  My youngest daughter and I took care of the business at hand but when we walked out of the store, she and I both laughed at the way the sprinkles falling in abundance tickled as well as how beautiful it looked under the street lights.  We stood there with arms outstretched, heads tilted back and huge child-like grins for a fleeting moment that seemed to last forever.  We giggled and laughed about playing in the rain and then made our way safely home.  The journeys of the day then fully completed and with the energy of laughter filling our hearts we made it safely home again.  I found myself recounting just before I slept last night, all of the amazing and simple things I am most grateful for.  It truly was a beautiful day on planet Earth yesterday and will be every day that I make up my mind to remain in a space of child-like wonder at all I see, hear and do.  ~Blessings for an amazing adventure dearest dreamers.  I wish you love, I wish you peace and an over-all feeling of child-like wonder at the beautiful unfolding of your lives.

(c) 2012 Jaie Hart (photo copyright as noted on photo)