Earlier this week we had a lot of rain in the town where I live, and it got me to thinking about that particular type of weather. Rain has got to be my favorite type of weather. I absolutely love it.
As a child, one of the funnest things about rain was that it would fill up the gutters. I remember putting popsicle sticks in the gutter and watching them float down the edge of the street until they’d finally disappear down one of the sewer drains. I bet there are a lot of popsicle sticks in the sewers.
I remember one time when I was maybe thirteen or fourteen I was walking to a boyscout activity with a friend of mine, and it happened to start raining on us. Well I told my friend how I really liked rain a lot, and how it made me feel good. He went on to say that he had heard that, scientifically speaking, when rain is falling it increases the static electric reaction in the air, and maybe that is why I felt more energy in the rain. Certainly this would explain why lightning is common in rainstorms, but as for me feeling good and having more energy, I could care less if there was a scientific explanation for this, and I told my friend this. He subsequently dropped the subject and simply enjoyed the rain along with me.
Even now, as an adult, when it rains I want to run out into the street and get soaked. I usually restrain myself, however. I suppose I don’t want to look insane, but the desire is there. Part of the reason I love back-country backpacking is because it rains almost every day in the mountains. Rain is usually gentle, but even the most violent rainstorms have a certain amount of peace to them. I love the sound of rain falling onto different surfaces. That’s where the real peace comes from.
I remember another time as a teenager when it was raining. I went into the backyard and was just playing around in the rain. Perhaps in a manner more childish than my age would have warranted, and another friend of mine came over, and he said we should do a rain dance, and so we danced in the rain. Yes, storms are some of the funnest weather.
Naturally, lightning comes with rain, and lightning is exciting. Lightning is a rush. Lightning is energetic. Lightning is even scary at times. Certainly I’d be afraid to stand out in the middle of a field during a lightning storm, but maybe I’d do it. Just for fun. Just to see what would happen. Just to run as fast as I could through the field. Just to feel like I’m on the edge. I’ve never done this, though, too afraid I guess.
I’ve had bad experiences in the rain. On more that one occasion I have made motorcycle trips of more than a hundred miles in the rain. Some bikers don’t like to ride in the rain at all. I can’t blame them. On one of these rides, by the time I got to my destination, my hands were shaking so bad that I could barely use the clutch lever. It wasn’t necessarily a good experience, but looking back on it, it was kind of fun. Sure I was scared at the time, but that was part of the fun. Even bad experiences in the rain are good.
I’ve had funny experiences in the rain as well. A friend of mine and I had some errands to run, and as we were about to leave it looked as if it was going to rain. My friend said, “Looks like we’re going to have some immaculate weather.” I was confused. My friend saw my confusion and corrected himself, “I mean inclimate weather.” That sounded better, but still I thought to myself, maybe there is something immaculate about rain. There certainly isn’t anything wrong with it, and it was certainly funny that he had made that slip of words.
I don’t know why people complain when it rains. I don’t hear a lot of complaints, but I hear them from time to time. Sure, rain has ruined some of my favorite jackets, and sometimes it does limit what I can do, but I can’t complain about it. I love it too much. I currently live in the desert where it doesn’t rain that much, and so really the only thing I can complain about is that it doesn’t rain often enough.