rain.

Rain.

What is it about the weather that can affect your mood so much?

Don't get me wrong, I love rain. I love the pitter-pattering it makes as it softly falls on the leaves of the trees. I love the mystery it creates when sheets of it hurdle toward the ground. I love the feeling of drops on your face as you look up into the clouds. I love the sound of the thunder, and feeling of your heart racing and you see lightning jump across the sky. I love the feeling of mud squishing under your bare feet. I love the sight of a child playing in the puddles.

But, at the same time, rain has its downsides. Walking to class through the rain is absolutely dreadful. I live for the feeling of the wind in my face as I ride my bike to class, and the hum of my tires on the asphalt. I live for the feeling of the grip tape against the longboard and the slap of my sneaker against the ground as I push myself down a hill. I love watching the blue sky as I weave my way down and across the road. When it rains, I end up slowly trudging to class, and today was especially bad since I had to wake up early for it too.

When I wake up in the morning and hear rain, it's a feeling of composite joy and sadness. I know the day is bound to be a dismal one where I dread going outside and may even change my schedule or walking route to avoid the rain. Luckily I have my music to listen to as I walk to class. But getting there with soaking feet and mud on your pants is simply not the way to go. It makes for a rather uncomfortable day.

Weird how something as simple as water falling from the sky can make or break your day. Wake up to a blue sky and sunshine, and it could make your day. Wake up to a blanket of clouds and pouring rain, looks like you'll spend most of your day trying to dry off and not leave your apartment. If something bad just happened, rain can make it all that much worse.

Oddly enough, one of the things I love most to do in the rain is drive. It doesn't matter where I'm going, and if gas wasn't so stinkin expensive I'd drive around for hours. Something about that feeling of going somewhere, and being on my own, shaded by this curtain of rain gets me inspired. Of course, got to have to music playing and singing along in the car.

It's hard to make an absolute judgment call on the stuff. Yeah, it can be a pain. But maybe we should look at it from a different point of view. What if we all woke up and praised the Lord for the rain that falls, that enables the plants to grow, and grass to stay green. That enables the sunny days to exist, as everything has an opposite.

I invite you to stop and take a moment to meditate a bit the next time it rains. Walk outside, barefoot, and in some normal clothes, and just take it all in. Lie down or just walk or just close your eyes, listen to the sound and feel it running down your face, your arms, your hands. Feel it puddle up around your feet and feel the ground hesitantly allowing itself to become soft and spongy for the time being instead of a concrete surface. Notice the birds that come out to get the worms that escape from a drowning underground, and the plants that reach for the water that will continue to give them life. It's a special thing --- and while it may sometimes be a pain, why not show some love for the rain?