Stormy Weather

Raindrops hitting a tin roof while you're sleeping.
Snuggled under a blanket, reading, while it's raining.
Drinking something hot while it's raining.
Waking up to morning rain and realizing you have nowhere to be.
Sitting in front of a picture window watching lightning.

There are so many negative connotations that get strapped onto rain, but these are the first few thoughts that pop into my mind when I see the sky clouding over, especially when we haven't seen the rain for several weeks. As it rains today, I can hear the dry, cracked ground refreshing itself with a cold drink. It's like soothing chapped lips with balm. It's the instant coolness that brings a flood of relief.

Now, I understand why storms get a bad rap. Just take the Duluth flood, or when it downpours during a camping trip and everything gets soggy. Those two examples probably shouldn't be in the same sentence. One is devastating and the other is rather inconvenient. Nonetheless, the age old adage, "rain on your parade" was made up for reason.

Just yesterday someone told me that one of the most powerful forces on earth is water and gravity. Think of the valleys and river beds that have been carved through the earth's topography because of a steady stream and downward movement. Entire civilizations have been built and have fallen due to their proximity to a river. My own city of Minneapolis is a thriving metropolis that survived years of difficult history because of help from the Mississippi.

The amazing thing about weather is not only its incredible force. It's also the fact that in this age, we still have nothing by way of combating it or preventing it. We can be warned of it, but beyond that we just have to wait it out. Grin and bear it. Hope for the best, and deal with the aftermath when it's all over. We can sit in the picture windows and be awed by the lightening, hoping it doesn't come through said window and strike you where you sit.

Maybe that's why we love talking about weather so much in Minnesota.