Things You Realize When it Rains

It's no secret that it's rained a lot in New England this spring. Here in Maine, it's rained every Saturday since March. If it rains this Saturday, as forecasted, it'll be the 14th in a row! Blah. It's hard to stay chipper when things are so gray, but we try. This past Saturday, I thought, whatever, I'm going to sit outside under my umbrella and pretend it's not raining! It was peaceful to sit outside during the rain. Peaceful until it started coming down in sheets. Peaceful until I realized there's a big hole in the top of my umbrella! Oh well, I tried! 

How often do we try things only to realize it's not what we wanted or not what we thought we needed? The rain can be cleansing and moisturizing, but not if we hide from it. It nourishes the soil, replenishing nutrients in the ground for flowers, grass, and trees, for things we take for granted every day. Little kids love playing in the rain. Why don't adults? I'm sure I'll sit outside again the next time it rains, under my red umbrella with the hole in the top. Will I fix it? Probably not. I'll probably get wet. When you're tired of being inside, looking out, even a broken umbrella is a welcome sight. 

I'm looking forward to summer, to hopefully drier days. But if not, I'll embrace the wet ones. I'll go camping in the rain. I'll go to my daughter's wedding in the rain. I'll dance in the rain, because life is too short to sit inside waiting to go out. Life doesn't often turn out the way we pictured it would, but if we can see past our quite often limited view, we might just realize how beautiful things are regardless.