Thoughts on a Rainy Day

After almost a month without a drop of rain, the skies opened and it rained all day. It was great to see the dark blue sky and smell the clean air for a change. The mixture of pollen and dust has greeted me every morning far too long.
Because of the laden moisture outside, there was little for me to do. On rainy days you can either twiddle your thumbs or do nothing, and I decided to do the latter. It is often hard to do nothing when there is so much to be done, but rainy days are forgiving and allow you to just relax.
My daddy had a lake house and all across the back side, the side facing the view of the lake, he constructed a sleeping porch. Most of the time it was used by everyone to sit and rock while visiting, but at night in the hot summertime, the kids would sleep out there in their sleeping bags. It was like camping out except you were protected from the insects by screen wire and from the rain by a tin roof.
If you ever had the experience of being inside a shelter with a tin roof when it was raining, you know what I am talking about. To hear the tap, tap, tap of raindrops against the metal surface can be entrancing. Even an occasional rumble of thunder in the distance can’t dispel the comforting music of the rain.
Usually my mother would wake us early and we would have a good breakfast, but on a rainy morning, she would let us laze around until maybe ten o’clock, or at least until the rain ended. After all, there was little for us to do. You can’t go fishing in the rain or play in the red dirt of East Texas. The normally bald hillside turned to slick red mud when it rained.
There wasn’t a television set either. We played cards and board games or sat and read books. Have you ever tried to read on a rainy day? I know you have and you know how hard it is. I remember sitting in one of the wooden rockers out on that screened in porch and trying to read one of Louis L’Amour’s westerns. I would read the same page over and over, interrupted by long pauses while I looked out over the lake as it rained.
Today I sat inside my modern well constructed home as it rained. I could barely hear the droplets thumping against the asphalt shingles. But in my head, my memories of years past, I still listened to the drumming sounds as they eased me into contentment.
It is so nice to have the rain return.