The other day I was out checking out my garden. For the second year in a row, I have been really late planting. I mean so late that I often wonder if I will be doing the first harvest during the first snowfall! So I kinda get obsessed with checking the beds where all my little baby seeds and seedlings are trying to make it. Luckily this year it’s not been as hot so far and there has been plenty of rain, so it gives me hope that they might survive the start of summer.
One day last week I was doing my baby seedling checks when the weather started to turn. It was one of those summer days when the sky is bright and beautiful in one direction and sort of grey in the opposite. As I walked down my laneway to find the yellow daylilies that desperately need to be moved, it started to rain. That gentle rain that sort of gets all the plants and foliage buzzing. Everything around me seems to jump and dance in the raindrops. The ground seems to reflect the drops and send it back towards the sky like a little game of tennis.
I was about halfway down the lane and so it was a bit far to run back to the house. I knew with the sun still beaming down from moment to moment that this was indeed a quick shower for nature. It would be over before it started, so I stood under a large cherry tree. Before you say anything, I am well aware of the hazards of standing under a tree, but it was not storming there was not a rumble in the sky!
So there I stood, quiet, with nothing to distract me, no place I needed to be… just me and nature. It was right then in the moment that I too felt the energy of the rain. It was pretty cool I have to say. I could hear the birds still chirping beneath the whoosh of the rain. The leaves above me fluttering as they reflected the drops in a million different directions to keep me and the ground below completely dry.
I took and a deep breath, and then another… I instantly smiled. It was hard not too, I was in a place of tranquillity and beauty. Really? It was our laneway! The same laneway that is usually rutted and overgrowth causing it to look like an off-roading track for truck enthusiasts!
Suddenly, I remembered how I loved to run around in the rain as a kid. Riding my bike through puddles. Running barefoot across the hot asphalt road that suddenly had cooled to a comfortable “warm”. Then there were the soccer games in the rain, hot from exhaustion to suddenly refreshed and reenergized. Soggy feet and a clingy uniform, but it meant slipping and sliding… just more fun!
So why is it that I forget all this, we forget all this. As we grow we start to dread the rainy days. I constantly hear people complain about how many times it rained on their summer vacation. Or how many weekends it’s rained. Yeah, I get it… the beach isn’t fun when it’s raining especially if you’re going for a tan. Getting soaked when you are running from your car to the different shops on your errands list, could make the day just more of a pain. Being an adult means responsibility and control. So impromptu rain showers can crash an outdoor event and send a bride into tears. But as kids, we cherished the rain like the plants do, like the earth does.
Often when I see Oskar in a “blissful” state he is usually staring at some light flickering through some leaves. Raindrops down a window pane, or the tiny particles of dust dancing in the beam of sunlight. He ALWAYS smiles and usually giggles too. I see him be in the moment and it causes me to be in the moment too!
I think it’s important for all us adults who at times are rushing through life… good and bad. To stop and take a moment, like Oskar and just be with nature and maybe more importantly… ourselves! Don’t lose the memories of what it was like being a kid… and just let the moment overtake you… it’s ok!
Cheers!