By Jen in Kitchen Counter Chronicles
Have you ever been caught in the rain? I don’t mean a light sprinkle of rain…a sunshower. I mean a downpour – cats and dogs type storm. My daughters and I were caught in a storm last spring…and it was marvelous.
Typical of a spring day – isolated showers were in the forecast. Heading out on our walk to the optometrist, we had umbrellas in our hands. It was a warm spring day, so we had sandals on our feet. We trekked down to the appointment without a single drop of rain. However, on our return home – the storm hit.
As we walked along, before the rain began to fall, I asked my daughters to stop and to listen. The birds that had been cheerfully chirping earlier were now silent. My girls wondered where they had all gone. What a fabulous opportunity to discuss the wonder of nature. The birds knew the storm was imminent, and they had moved to shelter in dense bushes and protected spots. The girls were fascinated.
The preliminary drops began to fall and we popped open our umbrellas – hoping that we too would make it to a protected spot before the storm kicked into high gear.
Suddenly, the drops got louder, larger and harder. The skies opened up and our umbrellas were rendered useless by the intensity of the downpour. Instead of “freaking out” my girls and I laughed at our predicament. We were about over a block from home – all uphill. I told my eldest daughter to run ahead and meet us on the porch. While my younger daughter and I sloshed our way up the hill.
When we met up under the protection of our awning, on our porch, we were soaked. Legs, feet, backs, faces, hands – all drenched. Instead of hiding out inside we decided to sit on the bench and watch…and listen. Watch as the storm turned our street into a rushing river and our garden into a marsh. The sound of chirping birds had been replaced by the “pong-pong” of raindrops on our metal awning. Amazing.
When the storm eased-up, only a few minutes later, we laughed at our wet heads and the way that we had run our hearts out up the hill…faster than we ever had before. That was an afternoon we reminisce about often. The time we got caught in the storm and watched our busy city street transform into a flowing river.
