Overwhelming silence

I love the rain. I miss the snow. The whole world quiets down when it rains. Everything slows down when it rains. People do not seem to move as fast, almost as if someone has hit the slowmo button on life. I can sit and stare out of my front window into the pouring rain, and a sense of peace comes over me. I cannot explain the feeling well enough, but the closest I can get is that everything slips away. Watching it rain, watching everything change color, especially here in California is breathtaking. The pavement, the cement, that covers every inch of this place darkens as it soaks in the water.

In the rain, people look so much more vulnerable than they do at any other time. Huddled in their clothing, in their coats and jackets, with the hoods up or beenies on, no one is trying to hide behind their normal masks. With the focus on staying dry and warm, no one can hide who they are. People look so different in the rain. People look so honest, maybe just in comparison.I miss the days that I could spend playing in the rain, or in the snow. It is not the freedom that I miss, but the act of walking and jumping and playing in the giant puddles left in the street that ran in front of the house that I grew up in. The rain makes me think of snowball fights with my brothers and sister on Christmas Eve four years ago, when the snow came down in almost a foot of beautiful, silencing white powder. It covered everything, and we scrapped it off of the back of Mom and Dad's car to throw at each other. It was amazing.

Maybe it is that on a deeper level than I consciously think on, I realize that the rain is life for this world. Without it we die. Simple. This is not a rant about clean water or conservation. I just wonder if we recognize naturally how important water is to us. Maybe we all enjoy days huddled reading while it rains outside because it is some sort of connection. Or maybe it is raining and I took a few too many Tylenol flu, night time. I do love the rain. And I do miss the snow.

-Richard