Thursday, January 12, 2012

It's a Rainy Day in Brooklyn

The best thing one can do when it's raining is to let it rain. --Henry Wadsworth Longfellow


It's a rainy day here in the city. It began last night after I got home from work as a gentle tapping against my window. To me, rain signifies the act of purification.  I'd been looking forward to rocking in my chair in front of the window and watching the snow falling, but this was just as comforting.  I cannot begin to describe that feeling of peace that overcame me when the rain started.  It had been such a hectic day at work, and last night's rain was exactly what I needed. It's so nice to finally have a window I can enjoy.

I close my eyes and think back to when I was a kid and rain was wonderful and amazing. Our parents always let us play in the rain if there wasn't any thunder and lightning.  My friend Kathy and I loved swirling and dancing in the rain, splashing in the puddles. The cool drops softly and gently running down our faces, getting into our eyes, soaking our clothes.  Playing in the rain sets you free, and  can still remember how it felt.  Ah, the wonders of childhood!!!  How quickly we forget.


The rain! the rain! the rain!

It gushed from the skies and streamed

Like awful tears; and the sick man thought
How pitiful it seemed!
And he turned his face away,
And stared at the wall again,
His hopes nigh dead and his heart worn out.
O the rain! the rain! the rain!

II.

The rain! the rain! the rain!
And the broad stream brimmed the shores;
And ever the river crept over the reeds
And the roots of the sycamores:
A corpse swirled by in a drift
Where the boat had snapt its chain--
And a hoarse-voiced mother shrieked and raved.
O the rain! the rain! the rain!

III.

The rain! the rain! the rain!--
Pouring, with never a pause,
Over the fields and the green byways--
How beautiful it was!
And the new-made man and wife
Stood at the window-pane
Like two glad children kept from school.--
O the rain! the rain! the rain!

James Whitcomb Riley

5 comments:

  1. So happy that it is comforting, to you.

    You got rain and we got some snow. (Hip-hip-hooray, since I don't have to go out in it, unless I want to do so.<--Disclaimer, because it can be a pain-in-the-neck, to hear someone rhapsodize about something, which is not, not, not fun, for us personally.)

    “Anne came dancing home
    in the purple winter twilight
    across the snowy places.”

    ~L.M. Montgomery, "Anne of Green Gables"

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  2. Yep....oh my, playing in the rain and jumping in those puddles. :0)
    (((hugs)))Pat

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  3. I, too enjoyed the rain last night, as I lay in bed. It lulled me to sleep as it hit the window. Very peaceful, indeed.

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  4. I too love the rain and have many fond memories from my childhood of exploring outside in it while everyone else was inside. It felt like I had the whole world all to myself :)

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  5. it is snowing here ...i enjoyed the rain too when i was little

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