Walking in the Rain...

I looked out the window tonight, as dusk was just starting to settle over our land and rain was pouring down in great sheets, and I had such a desire to be out of the house and out in the weather.

I hurried to put on my raincoat, with a grubby sweatshirt and a pair of old jeans underneath, only stopping for a moment to stumble into a set of blue muck boots. As I stepped out the door, the air smelled so fresh, and clean, and new to me, as it always seems to when a hard rain has come.

I started off with the hood of my raincoat tied tightly about my head, but before I knew it I had untied the knots that held it there, and let it slip forgotten to my back; the rain making my hair curl in tendrils about my face, and the wind gently tugging open the edges of my jacket. Our puppy Holly went with me, too, happy to be let loose in the outdoors, bounding and playful with pent up energy.

My hair and jeans were soaked by the time I came in, but I really didn't care. It was worth it to be alive and well, alone with my soul and my God in the the great outdoors. Holly romped playfully at my feet, stopping occasionally to wait for me to catch up, or to take a happy-go-lucky nip at my raincoat.

We scared up all sorts of rabbits and birds, who would look up in surprise at seeing a "people" out in the wet, and then would dash off to hide once more in the underbrush, their dark eyes following our steps closely.

We stumbled across a small pool looking just like something from a fairy story, in amongst the trees that line the path that we walk. It hadn't been there before, but had come with all of the rain and was now near knee-deep. Holly was happy to run about in it, splashing and joyful with her tongue hanging out, trying to get me wet, too, but I was so overcome by the unexpected beauty of it, that I could only stand there, reverently touching the moss that clung to an old weathered oak, while the rain collected like dew on my eyelashes and ran in rivulets down the bridge of my nose. All that I could do was lift my face to the heavens and thank God for being alive.

Before long, as the sun fell in the sky and the rain began to seep through my clothes, I started to get cold, so we headed for home, the mud pulling noisily at our feet.

There's nothing quite like coming indoors all wet and tired, and changing into warm, sweet-smelling clothes...