This afternoon was mostly sunny, but right around 3 o’clock as I was getting ready to leave work the sky turned pitch black and the rain let loose. It came down in sheets and was so hard it was actually bouncing off of everything. Every time it rains and its warm out, the instant I see the rain my mind pops out the phrase “Sweet summer rain, like God’s own mercy.” I don’t know why, it just happens. For the longest time I really had no idea what that phrase meant, but I think I’m starting to get it. Summer rain comes down and washes all of the dust and grime clean and refreshes the sun burnt grass and plants, much like God’s mercy washes us clean from sin. I know, right? That’s funny coming from me because I’ve never been religious. But anyway that’s what I immediately thought, then as I was contemplating this and trying to become a deeper man, the rain stopped and the sun came out.
I love when it’s so hot out that you get a pop up thunderstorm than drops buckets of rain then is gone minutes later leaving the blacktop steaming. Then the sun shines on everything and amplifies the colors against the passing dark clouds. That is just awesome to me. Well, that happened today and as I was driving down Main St. I saw a group of drenched teenagers just hanging out. They had obviously got caught in the storm, but they were perfectly happy just hanging out, even though they were soaked. That got me thinking about all of the things I did when I was their age. I loved the rain, if it was raining me and my cousins would round up kids for a football game and go play in the rain. As I got older, I danced in the rain trying to be romantic with a girl I was seeing, I made out in the rain and the rain never bothered me. The rain made everything better back then, now I run to hide from it. I think “Great, it’s raining! Where’s the roof going to leak this time?” I don’t like that. I want to get back to playing in the rain and not caring about getting wet. Hell, it’s only water, right?
After I had that epiphany, my mind wandered to my teenage years and how I loved the dark and the night. I lived for the night. I would work all day in the summer just looking forward to the night. It was because the night is when everyone came out and hung out. There were no worries about bills or jobs, it was just hoping you had enough money to put gas in the tank and have someone buy you a six pack. That’s all it was, I never thought about the next day, let alone the next week. My only thoughts were of that night and what we could do. It seems like I had more friends then or at least I saw them more often and it was just peaceful. I don’t know I guess, it was just more carefree and more adventurous all at the same time. It’s just fun to reminisce.
Anyway, I guess what I got out of today is live life moment to moment. Let the small stuff be water off a duck’s back. Go out and play in the rain and live for tonight. Don’t hold back, go have an adventure. I’m going to…
No comments:
Post a Comment