track five: bottom of the barrel

i realize it has been some time since i last shared... life is busy, life is hectic, but life, above all, is good!

it is the first truly rainy day this spring here in the mountains... and i love it. birds chirping, thunder rolling, puddles forming... life is being renewed right in front of me! i am quite appreciative :)

rainy days make me remember the not-so-happy rainy days of my youth. i wasn't allowed to play outside in the rain... the puddles that formed during the rain were fair game after the rain stopped, but rain meant no outside time... i loved (and still love) outside! (and i still don't play in the rain)

rainy days were especially not fun when i was visiting grandparents. we *my two amazing sisters and i* were seriously stuck on the inside and it smelled funny. we found small ways to entertain ourselves... one of which was watching the rain collecting contraption outside the bay window.

my maternal grandmother (still) has that water collecting tube to measure the amount of rain per storm. she usually compares it to the numbers her local weatherman reads off during the 11 o'clock news... she wants to prove him wrong; 95% of the time she does :) *i don't have anything in common with her whatsoever... hahah* with the recent drought, that tube hasn't served any large function... i took a trip to see her this past easter. guess what?!? it rained. i found myself drawn to the same bay window to watch the rain water level rise...

it was different this time: there was a bug in the tube when the rain started... a flying bug whose wings were disabled by the first drop of rain... it had to learn to float pretty fast. i watched it struggle for about twenty minutes before compassion made me venture out to save it.

and i was reminded of this song... bottom of the barrel by amos lee... the power of an optimistic outlook on life :)

so when i feel like i have been pelted by a huge raindrop that knocks me down to the bottom of that collection tube (like that bug) i get to have a choice. i can stay at the bottom and remember when times were good and i wasn't stuck in a barrel of water... OR... i can fight to stay on top, knowing that the water level will eventually reach the top of the tube allowing me to crawl out.

rain really is one of my favorite weather conditions *if i am somewhere dry and not driving* when applied to my seasonal weather of life, i still like it. it is rejuvenation even though it may seem miserable... it is refreshment even though it feels disheartening... it is cleansing... it is rain.

take some time to appreciate the rain... the literal and figurative rains.