It's raining today in the Sunshine State. Those in the Frozen North or the Pacific NorthWET may find this funny. To some extent it is. To watch Floridians scurry for cover even before the first drop falls out of the sky is amusing. Even the dog park empties out at the threat of rain, much to the dismay of the canine furry class who could care less about getting wet while out walking and socializing with the rest of the canine world.
While rain for days and days on end can be nothing less than miserable and demoralizing, the occasional rainy day can soothe the spirit and calm the mind better than any man-made tranquilizer, over the counter or otherwise. This seems to be the best kept secret of a gentle drizzle as it bounces gently among blades of bright green grass or taps lightly on the roof overhead.
The meditational magic hiding behind a curtain of soft rainfall has not been lost in the world of music. B.J. Thomas told us that while the raindrops may indeed keep falling on my head, trying their very wet best to send me the blues, nothing will ultimately worry me about the result of such raindrops.
Edwin McCain went even further, deeply romanticizing something as simple as a rainy night:
"Lying here with you,
Listening to the rain
Smiling just to see the smile upon your face.
These are the moments I thank God that I'm alive."
How's that for next week's date night? It sounds wonderful. Where do I sign up?
Fortunately, I have yet to see modern music, dark and self-absorbed as it can be, make a single mention of rain in the context of seasonal affective disorder (SAD). The dark depression of SAD is serious, brought on by the deficits in sunlight that too much gray and too much rain can produce. Yet, rain alone, when taken with an appropriate shot of adequate sunlight, is a chance not only for nature's thirst to be quenched, but also for the quiet of the soul to be restored and peace to be returned to its proper place in the heart.
Last I looked, that's something the i-Phone, i-Pad, i-Pod, i-Etc soaked culture we live in could use now and then.
Well put. We've learned to appreciate the rain. Moving to Alabama from Michigan was a systemic shock. We didn't know there could be so much sunshine in a day or in a year. I think it's why southerners are generally so happy. It's not "laziness" as we're so often accused of; it's just joie de vivre. Fried chicken, too.
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