Rain Blessings

Rain has returned to the Olympic Peninsula, so it rained through the night last night. It didn't rain hard, though. The rain fell like a light mist during the night and I could only hear it landing on the roof when I walked under one of the skylights in my house. I used to refer to rain like this as drizzle growing up in northeast Ohio where the rain fell much harder, creating puddles and runoff everywhere. The rain doesn't penetrate the ground as well when it falls so hard, the ground gets saturated quickly so the water that falls stays on the surface and runs down whatever inclines there are toward lower ground. In Ohio, water often ran down the sides of the streets toward the sewers and drains located at low spots on the pavements or streets. Water ran off the lawns and out of the woods as well, creating streams, brooks and small lakes everywhere. It rained faster than the ground could absorb water.

Here, in the Northwest, the rain falls so gently that it's absorbed right away. When I moved here, I thought I would need heavy duty rain gear to be able to go outside when it rains. As it turns out, though, I often go outside with just a jacket or sweatshirt when it's raining because the moisture falls in such small droplets. It's more like a mist than what I used to associate with rain. It's more like being out in a snowfall, where the flakes dust the clothing but don't make it very wet unless I remain outside in the snow for too long. It's the same with the rain, here. It's usually gentle, soft and caressing, like having very moist air surrounding me.

It does rain hard occasionally and then I do need to cover myself with rain gear and waterproof shoes. This seldom happens, though, and I find myself surprised again and again by the lightness of the rain.

So, when the showers necessary for life come to the area, I experience them as bringing a blessing of moisture and nurturing me and everything else here with life-giving watery abundance.