Summer Breeze

Sometimes in the heart of winter, when I feel like I’ve been cold for months, it helps to find a summer breeze.

The warm scent of flowers blooming.  When a cool breeze feels like a refreshing drink.  I actually like walking into that wall of heat, when there’s nothing but it, packed in tight.  Barely room to move . . .  It can feel like a hug if you’ve been trapped in over cranked air conditioning most of the day!

Can you really hear the ocean in a shell?  The sound of it lulls me. Easy does it.  No where to be.  The feel of the ocean as it caresses your ankles, cooling you down.  And then receding, sinking your toes in the soft, wet sand.  It’s almost like a foot massage.

I adore the sun sparkling through thick green leaves. When the trees are full I feel abundant, pregnant with possibilities!

One of my favorite things about summer is the bursts of color you see everywhere.  Flowers along the side of the road, in parking lots, and surrounding houses.  Most everyone is wearing colorful clothes, too.  There’s a spirit of vacation and having fun.

Ah, the long evenings, cooling down, but remaining sultry. The sun gracing the day until nearly 9 pm!  When there’s still enough light in the sky to see by, it makes me feel like the days are endless.

When it Rains, it Shines

It’s been raining for several days around here. It never ceases to amaze me how affected I am by this.  My energy level wavers, I become more grumpy and generally uncomfortable and annoyed.  Everything seems to be that much more of an effort in the rain.

Perhaps I can try to see it from another perspective.  As the song “Rain” by the Beatles says, “it’s just a state of mind.”   I tell myself I don’t like it when it rains, it’s too much trouble . . .  but that’s really just a story I like to tell.  Repeating that in my head and out loud only reinforces it.

Rain nourishes the plants.  “March winds, April showers, bring May flowers.”  Even if it’s May and it should be all about the flowers.  Rain does much good and it’s part of the natural order of things.  Sometimes, when I don’t have to go out in it, or when I return home out of it, it can be kind of cozy.  At certain times of the year, a fire in the fireplace can chase away the rain chill.  I like that vision.

There are some marvelous songs written about rain, along with the Beatles ode.  One of my favorite America songs is called “Rainy Day.”  There’s also “Ain’t No Sunshine,” “Baby, the Rain Must Fall,” “Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain,” “Fire and Rain,” “A Hard Rain’s Gonna Fall,” “Have You Ever Seen the Rain,” “I Wish it Would Rain,” “Think a Little Rain’s Gonna Fall,” “The Early Morning Rain,” “Let it Rain,” “Mandolin Rain,” “Purple Rain,” “Rain on the Roof,” “Rhythm of the Rain,” “Summer Rain,” “Walking in the Rain,” “Dancing in the Rain,”   See?  Lots of great songs.  I bet you have a few favorites yourself.

I tend to be able to move between the raindrops most days – between garages and such.  So, I don’t really have such a hard time with it.  If I pay attention, I can see it really is the same world, same life, same people I love, even when it rains.  There’s nothing I can do to change the weather, so I may as well accept and allow it.  It does me no good to fight it.  I only end up feeling worse.

So, I’m going to practice saying good things to myself when it rains, letting go of the sticky complaints and the sympathizing with others about the rotten weather.  Instead I will sing some of these songs to ease my mind.  Maybe I can shine my light a little brighter.  Then when the sun returns, I will rejoice all the more!