Monday, March 7, 2011

Rain

I heard the tinkle of the raindrops gently falling last night. At first, I thought it was the fire crackling in the fireplace. Glancing out the window, I could see the wet street reflect the night lights. Instantly, a smile came to my face.


I don't know what it is about the rain that calms me. It's always been that way. The sound envelops me in its  warm embrace.

I remember as a child draping myself across the sofa in front of our bay window and watching the rain pound the street and sidewalk for hours at a time. . There was usually a fire blazing in the fireplace on those days. I felt safe, warm and loved.


As a young mother, rainy days blessed me with children playing at my feet. They seemed to get along with each other so well on those days. We would sit in front of the fire and drink hot cocoa and munch on fresh chocolate chip  cookies.  Rainy days and chocolate chips cookies go together. Baking is one of the things I do on rainy days.


When my children grew old enough to go to school, rainy days could start out as a nightmare of parents and cars trying to drop off their precious bundles at the door all at the same time. The traffic increased exponentially on those days. Each parent  wanting to make sure their child got to school safe and dry.

That isn't always possible in California. Rain here is usually not light, it pours.  We may not get a lot of the wet stuff each year but some years are unbelievable. Especially when we get an El Nino effect. Then you might as well just drive around in a boat.  It probably sounds silly to those who live in really difficult weather, but it's what we know here in sunny Southern California.


I was always so glad to get wet kids, books, lunch pails,backpacks,  friends, etc, packed into the old station wagon and home to the cookies, cocoa and fire.

Tonight's rain brings the same visceral experience. I fall asleep peacefully dreaming of years past when I was young .....when the world held endless possibilities....when the rain washed the cares of the world away for a few hours.When my children were safe by my side.

3 comments:

Judy Hartman said...

Julie, your writing brought tears to my eyes. I'll never look at rain quite the same way again!! What sweet memories of days gone by with your children! I, too, remember curling up with my daughter on my lap as we read a book on a rainy day. It is a fond memory, since she is now 5 inches taller than me!!!

sharon said...

Juliette,
Thank you for your comment on my blog and congratulations on beginning your own. My blog is only 5 months old now, so not much older than yours. (though as lovely as yours is I would think you'd been writing it for years.) I began writing
SallyMomSprouts as a journal for myself, a place I could capture my days with words and pictures. Living apart from my husband, it also served the purpose of keeping him close to me, giving him a window on my life on the farm while he's toiling away in the city.
The quite unexpected and delightful surprises of my blog were the lovely folks who dropped by and left me messages. I look forward to looking in on your blog and please keep visiting mine. I do enjoy it so.

Alfonso Cevola said...

nice post sis....I remember some of those rainy days with you with chocolate cream pie...

love you -

your (blogging fool) brother