It's A Beautiful Morning

Ah...there is something about waking to a world that has been washed throughout the night by pouring rain...

I'm one of those freaky people that adores the rain, the clouds, the thunder, the lightning, the sound of the rain drops drumming against the house - the roof, the windows...the smell of the imminent moisture hanging in the air, heavy, seductive in it's promise of freshness, the tangible weight of the air, the gloom that creeps into the skies as the clouds gather, piling upon one another...the slight breeze that kicks up right before the downpour begins.

Best of all, I love the way that in Colorado, after the storm passes, the air lightens, lifting off of your skin, the skies clear, sometimes slowly, sometimes so rapidly you could almost think the rain was a dream, but for the drops clinging to the grass and leaves. I love the scent that is left behind, mixed with the aroma of the vegetation, the dirt, hearing the birds singing as they make their nests, and begin the dance of the summer, leading up to the babies flying out of their nests in just a few short weeks...the way my tulips will be so tightly closed against the chill in the air, and now, when I peek out my front door, they are wide open, soaking up the heat of the sun, the fresh air, the moisture still clinging to their broad leaves, the scent of the dirt, wet, musty, heating up in the sun...

I listen with amusement, sometimes aggravated, to the folks on the news, TV or radio, on the streets, saying "Oh, the rain! I wish it would just go away, and warm up! I'm ready for summer!" and I wonder if they realize that without this glorious spring days, with the birds, and the bees, and the flowers, and the rain, and the coolish temperatures, that summer heat would cook away all of that, and we'd live in a place like the desert...which, while beautiful, is not the way that every part of the world was made to be...God gave us our sight, our hearing, our senses of smell, taste, and touch to enjoy every part of his Creation - all the seasons, all the colors, animals, plants...

And some days, I want to reach out to those people asking for a jump from winter straight into summer, and ask them if their eyes are truly open! How can they not see the freshness, the newness of everything and enjoy it, revel in it?

Don't get me wrong, I much prefer the days of baking heat, intensely blue skies, sitting outside in the sun, soaking up the light, the heat, cooking away all the chill of the rest of the year, soothing me, recharging me...but, after all is said and done...is there anything as lovely as a spring morning after a hard rain?