Spring's Rain

A joyful nod at the forms of Spring

This is a brief description of rain that I hope you enjoy. I find the season of spring very agreeable and I hope you do as well. If you do not, then I hope that this entry encourages you to reconsider. Take a moment and think about that last spring rain that you encountered and attempt to remember the sights, smells, and sounds of it. What do you remember?

How would you describe a spring rain? Which one would you choose that is the first question. One would be tempted to choose those mild and fine mists that turn the world silver gray and which rest upon the ground like the thinnest layer of silk. The ground does not resist in the slightest but rather greets it silently in the cool knowing of growing things. This sort of rain appeals much to me, I could stand outside and hardly get wet, and yet, as time moves on I suddenly find myself with a slight chill and very damp. The rain has done its work. Just minutes pass in an hour so this slight rain fills the air and softens the ground. A gentle relentlessness much like the passing of time itself.

One would have to consider a gentle spring rain. The soft pitter-patter which always heralds the oncoming falling water comes first then followed by a wonderful rain shower. It could last mere minutes or all day. The ground does not resist either but welcomes it with open arms and a thirsty eagerness. The seasons have changed coming out of winter means that the mornings are cool and the rain is fine. As a mother beckons a child to come to her so the rain quietly urges the earth to grow. And indeed the earth does, in response, the ground and trees yield its hidden things, and the world changes color. Though often so soft and silent such a rain brings with it mountains of anticipation. Spring has finally come.

But what about the mature spring rain? One that comes with thunder and lightning? A rain that you can smell in the air before it comes and feel on your skin before it falls. The rain tells the dusty roads to stay and lay and rest. You hear the thunder first and see the huge dark clouds coming ever closer. The breeze turns to wind as their meandering turns to marching and all of a sudden a storm has come! With booming and blowing and the rain drives the winter away replacing it with a gentle spring. Rivulets form on the ground as the earth is filled to the brim. They run downhill, wherever that may be, and form those playful puddles. Just as suddenly as the thunderstorm comes it marches on in search of new unexplored territory leaving behind the songs of birds and a new spring of peace. Which rain would you choose? How would you describe the rain in spring?