Rain

I heard the rain before I saw it. I was lying on the futon in me and Mel's apartment when I heard the hammering of rain beating against the roof. I got up and walked outside and stood underneath the overhang for as long the rain lasted, just watching, listening, and smelling the rain. Being quiet.

I have a lot of rain memories. Walking in the rain. Running in the rain. Standing in the rain.

I think one of my favorite rain memories happened a while back when I was still a camp counselor. Every night, we counselors led devotions with the girls. One night, the rain starting coming down, and I decided to take the girls out on the porch to watch the rain. As we watched the rain come down in silver sheets on the dark green mountain, I read to them the story of Noah's ark from the Bible. When I was done and Noah and his family had seen the rainbow, my girls and I continued to watch the rain in a hushed quietness. We all sat, hugging our knees, watching, listening, smelling that rain.