A slight pitter-patter of raindrops on our deck roof is almost lulling me to sleep now, and I realize this may be one of my favorite comfort sounds. Never a fan of huge thunderstorms, I find that a light all-day rain is more my style.
Just yesterday, my niece who lives a couple hours south of me posted that her city had already received 7 inches of snow … in October! Perhaps their slight pitter-patter had more oomph in it than ours does tonight.
Isn’t rain a little like life? Some people love it; some people hate it. It can be gentle or turn into something much fiercer than it started out to be.
For those of us in the cooler Midwest temps, rain can be a precursor to a four-letter word that most people only like to see falling in late December. (I am definitely not one of those people.) For those in California or Colorado, rain hasn’t been seen for so long that wildfires burn out of control. Simultaneously, some people are cursing the rain while others are praying for it.
People are also reading…
When I was growing up, I never fully appreciated wet weather. It didn’t bode well for my hair that I spent entirely too long styling every morning before going to school. I covered my head, used an umbrella, and did anything I could to avoid getting any raindrops on me. I sprinted from my car to wherever there was shelter from the rain, be it the school, the mall, my job at the Dairy Queen, or so many other spots I frequented in my high school years. I never stopped to look up at anything if there was a speck of precipitation in the air. Head down and hopefully every strand of hair protected, I was a girl on a mission to get from point A to point B, fully unscathed from the destruction a raindrop would certainly cause.
Looking back at my old self, even I don’t like the vain person I was.
After decades of this “rain dance” of mine, I got married and had two sons. Our little boys loved the rain. My husband went outside with them to show them how to have toothpick races in the flowing streams of water outside our house. They jumped in puddles and came inside absolutely drenched from head to toe. Rain was FUN for them!
Cue the life-changing motivational music to a scene where I realized that life’s too short not to enjoy it. All of a sudden, I began to see rain in a different way. I began to linger in it to hear the softness of it echoing in the air. I smelled the before/during/after rain scent that nothing else can replicate. I stomped through puddles instead of quickly hopping over them.
I bought a painting captioned, “Smile at the rain” showing a mass of huddled people under their own umbrellas and one lone person with her umbrella at her side, head bent as far back as she could stretch it, exuberantly looking up at the sky…fully enjoying the same rainstorm that the others were avoiding. Sometimes we need the umbrellas; sometimes we need to get a little wet. To me, this picture is a happy representation of where I was and where I hope to always be. Perhaps I’ll “ruin” my hair in the process, but I want to continue this lifelong lesson of learning to smile even when others aren’t.
Oh, I’m not saying goodbye to my rain gear just yet and I will never deny myself some down time when I’m feeling sorry for myself and creating my own “rain” trickling down my cheeks. Just as Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote, “Into each life, some rain must fall.”
When it does, will you be scurrying through it alone under your protective umbrella…or stopping to notice even in a time everyone else deems bad, there is something (no matter how miniscule)…SOMETHING to enjoy.
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PHOTOS, VIDEO: Election Day throughout North Iowa
Election Day 1
Election Day 2
Election Day 3
Election Day 4
WATCH NOW: Voter voices: North Iowa Election Day 2020
Election Day 5
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Election Day 7
2020 curbside voting
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WATCH NOW: Voter voices 2: North Iowa Election Day 2020
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Election Day 2020 voter check-in
Voter voices: North Iowa election 2020 first-time voter interview
Melynda and Brandon McKelvey voted in person at the Cerro Gordo County Courthouse. It's Brandon's (who is 19) first time voting. @globegazette #Election2020 pic.twitter.com/M6lCn6LJXl
— Lisa Grouette (@LisaGrouette) November 3, 2020
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WATCH NOW: Voter voices 3: North Iowa Election Day 2020
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Election 2020 poll watcher interview
Dem poll observer Mel, of Ventura, is an out-of-work substitute teacher who lost her adult son in March (not COVID). She has been involved with campaigning + will canvass ballots later today. She said it keeps her busy and gives her a sense of pride. #Election2020 @globegazette pic.twitter.com/jQo2lYhJnS
— Lisa Grouette (@LisaGrouette) November 3, 2020
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Trump flag near Cerro Gordo courthouse
Voter voices: North Iowa Election Day 2020
Out talking to some voters. Here’s Mike and Kira Graf talking about why they think it’s important to vote. #ElectionDay #Election2020 pic.twitter.com/qFiT2BrsUn
— Gunnar Davis (@Gunnar57Davis) November 4, 2020
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Hancock County polling place 2
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Michelle Sprout Murray is a writer who lives in Mason City. She may be reached at sproutmurray@gmail.com.