I awoke this morning to a beautiful sight: rain, fresh and moist, falling gently from the sky. This doesn't happen often in Montana. If it's precipitation, it's usually snow, and trust me, you DON'T want to hear my raw and honest feelings about the relentless snow this year. So whenever the rain comes, I am excited indeed. I immediately put shoes on and go outside. It is about all I can do to refrain from raising my arms to the sky and twirling in circles of delight. No, I don't actually DO this; it's just very tempting. Instead, I generally walk for as long as the rain falls or until I am utterly drenched. I have the walking trail all to myself because Montanans don't go out in the rain. They think they will melt, I suppose, and rain happens so infrequently here, they can afford to stay inside.
As the rain fell so beautifully this morning, I had to go to school to administer two final exams, so I missed the opportunity for a rainy walk, but I WAS able to drive in the rain and hear the pitter patter of drops on my windshield. What glorious noise! I rolled down my window slightly just to feel the mist on my face. As I drove, Barry Manilow sang "I Made It Through the Rain" on the satellite radio (no kidding!), the lyrics celebrating people who make it through the difficult situations in life and move forward with strength to happier times. This caused me to think about the many references to rain in songs, literature, slogans, etc., all of them presenting negative connotations.
"Into every life, some rain must fall."
"It is wise to set aside some money for a rainy day."
"Rainy days and Mondays always get me down."
"After the rain, the rainbow." [like rainbows are in some way better than rain?]
"Raindrops keep fallin' on my head."
And, of course, the above mentioned Manilow song, "I made it through the rain, found myself respected by the other who got rained on too and made it through."
I don't understand any of these metaphors; seriously, what could be more wonderful than rain? It freshens the air, softens the skin, hydrates the earth, and soothes the soul. So I decided to revise these images to make better sense:
"Into every life, some sun must shine."
"It is wise to set aside some money for a sunny day."
"Sunny days and Mondays always get me down."
"After the sun, the sunburn."
"Bright sun keeps shinin' in my eyes."
"I made it through the sunshine, found myself respected by the others who got shined on too and made it through."
Yes. Those make much more sense. At least to me. Maybe what I really need to do is move to Forks, WA and live with the Cullen Family. (Those who don't "get" the Twilight allusion will just need to read the series. You'll love it. I promise!)
