Rejuvenation

I love the rain! With winter rain it is a little chilly or cold and the clouds are gray, flat and heavy with rain. I love the way the rain comes down...more than a drizzle and less than a down pour. It is a nice steady rain with no wind. That is the kind of rain this dry desert needs. The kind that soaks into the ground instead of running off.

Summer monsoon rains are exciting! The thunder clouds build and build. They build so high they look like they are touching space. Then they get so heavy with rain they just collapse. The lightening pops across the sky and the thunder rolls. you can watch the storm move in and the air is alive with the anticipation of a down pour. When I was a kid living up in the mountains, this was an everyday occurance from July to September. Sometimes it was around 1 in the afternoon and other times it was later, but it was every day. As a kid my sister and I would stand at the window and hope that it would be later in the day so we could go swimming at the local pool!

The rain doesn't seem to come nearly as often anymore. I'm not sure if I believe the whole global warming thing, but I do believe that weather patterns change and it has definitely changed. We still get the summer monsoon rains, but in this dry, hot desert they don't come as often. I think the city holds the heat like a big dome that forces the rain around us. The one thing I don't like about living in the desert is the lack of rain.

In my life I have been blessed to live in the mountains of this beautiful state and also in the desert. The rain storms are always welcome no matter where in the state they fall. The rain washes away the dust and sadness of many, many weeks of no rain. The air is clean, everything is greener. The earth greedily sucks up the moisture because it has been starved of it for so long.

I find myself feeling that way too. I get cranky and grouchy when we don't have rain. I get tired of the pollution, dust, dirt and dryness...and not just physically, but mentally as well. The rain washes away the sadness I feel and automatically makes me happy. I am happy knowing that God is still blessing us and this earth with the moisture that is so desperately needed.

After knowing all this about me, imagine my excitement when I woke this morning to rain hitting my bedroom window! I couldn't believe it was real! They had been forcasting it for a week, but I have learned to not get excited because I usually get disappointed. Not today! I jumped out of bed and got my kids moving. It was time for a bike ride in the rain. We all bundled up and headed out. Oh how glorious it was! My kids liked it at first, then they got hungry and wet and wanted to go home. I rode home with them and then headed out on my own. Usually I take my music when I ride, but today I didn't. I just rode in silence listening to the hum of my tires on wet cement. Even though it was raining, the birds were singing their excitement about the rain too! It was the most beautiful morning! I feel like the rain has washed away the dust from my soul and like this dry desert, I am rejuvenated!