ramblings on rain

I sit here at the kitchen table in our little apartment, staring out at a wet, wet world. Rain has been drizzling from the sky for the past four days or so, typical of Juneau, Alaska (since it is technically a rain forest). I am warm and cozy with my wool socks, my feet dancing up and down the legs of my chair.

It hasn't been the miserable type of rain, though.

This morning, we went to do service projects, and I intentionally signed up for one where I would get to work outside. We spent a couple of hours laying tarp for a community garden on Douglas Island. I wore my rain jacket with the hood up. Dark mud covered my feet. My feet, being safe in my XtraTuf boots, did not mind. Neither did my knees whenever I fell, although denim is less tolerant to mud and moisture than rubber is.

If I were going to personify rain, I would describe him as persistent. Rain doesn't care what you have planned, what you are wearing, or what you want it to do. He is focused on some sort of goal, and he has a one-track mind. Typical of a man. The grass is going to be watered, the lakes are going to be filled, and any bit of make-up you put on before you left the house is going to be smeared down your cheeks. That's just what rain does.

There's something about running through the rain, tromping around in rubber boots, that reminds me of being a child. I like to take my hair out of its ponytail and let it stream behind me so I end up with a damp, tangly mess. Droplets catch on my eyelashes and my cheeks, stinging ever so slightly. Maybe I should write a poem about it.

I know I previously personified rain as a male, but I think I changed my mind. Rain is too beautiful and too soothing to be a man. It is life-giving and nurturing, which are both typically feminine roles. At least the rain here in Juneau is like that.

That's what my summer here has felt like. Nurturing and refreshing. After a busy school year with classes and ministry and trying to have a social life, my heart was definitely feeling dry and in need of moisture. It's been challenging, as well. New circumstances, new opportunities, new chances for unexpected things to happen. That's a lot like rain, too - adding a new dimension to whatever activity you are participating in. Playing basketball outside in the rain is harder because you could more easily slip and fall on your butt. However, it also makes anything more of an adventure.

Maybe thunderstorm rain could be a man.

When we were hiking back from Mendenhall Glacier last weekend, it was raining. We were walking through the woods, rain jackets doing their best to protect our skin from the cold wetness falling between tree branches. It was another one of those moments where I felt like a child in a storybook, on her way home from a grand adventure.

I think I just like to picture events and decisions in my life as an adventure. It makes everything more fun that way.