"Driving Rain"

The past couple of days it has been cloudy and rainy. Although the weather lately has been slightly reminiscent of The Day After Tomorrow, I welcomed the change. I'm having a difficult time adapting one day to 100 degree weather and then 45 degree weather the next day, but the rain has been pleasant. Normally I'm steadfastly "sunshine crazy," so it is just slightly atypical. 

As I drove to pick up my sister from school, the rain became torrential. My windshield wipers could hardly move fast enough, but I loved it. No, I did not love the likelihood of crashing on the freeway as I fought to keep my car from hydroplaning... but I loved the splatter of water against the roof of my car, the looming, black clouds hanging over the mountain tops, and the goosebumps that crawled over my skin as my heater kicked on. For some reason, I found peace in the steady hammering of rain. Maybe it's because the sound temporarily suppressed the sounds of the artificial world that I felt peace. It was like I was completely ensconced in my car with the rain as my shield from the outside world. However briefly, I had my own place to think and to find resolve. 

When I got home I had half the mind to just sit outside just allow the rain to drench me from head to toe. The other half of my mind, however, (the "reasonable" side) argued that I was just recovering from a cold and my two weeks of fighting it off would prove fruitless. So, reason took ahold of me, unfortunately so. I now wish that I hadn't listened to Reason. However, the rain still made my soul content just as it moistens the soil. I needed the cool tranquility of precipitation just as nature needed to stock up for the harsh summer to come.

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"Why don't we drive in the rain, 

Straight to the eye of the hurricane

Go for a ride in the driving rain..."

~Paul McCartney's "Driving Rain"

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So much nature writing lately! I call it a newfound appreciation for the amazing environment I'm surrounded by. Not many people nowadays are lucky enough to tell people that they literally have National Forest right behind their houses. (Or, what's more, an actual mountain!) In any case, I've lived in this quaint town in a valley sheltered by the mountains for my whole life. I've adapted to 4,000-5,000 feet elevation and can honestly say that I've shoveled snow, climbed a mountain, and seen mountain lions saunter past my house. I've been shaped by this environment. I honestly believe it's contributed a large part of who I am today. It is the essence of my inspiration.