Rain

It shows up softly with a silvery noise. Then the sound swells like a crescendo of small cymbals. It is raining. A thousand tiny drops thrum together into one solid sound of water crashing hard against the dry and dusty ground. The drench of heavenly water heavily slaps the soggy ground, saturating the Earth. There is a song in those drops, in the rhythmic dripping and splashing of the water. An ancient tale whispered softly, a soothing lullaby from long ago. It is a call for life. Grass seems to grow greener, birds louder, flowers brighter, even against the oppressive grey sky that looms overhead. Insects and slimy worms are forced up from their dark comforts up onto the surface. This leaves them helpless to hungry birds who chirp happily in the background, safe in the protection of the trees.

A cleansing freshness blows in with the wind. A pure sense of revitalization breezes in on the rain. You can almost taste a sweet perfume of soaking Earth, saturated dirt, mixed with the fragrant scent of blooming flowers. The glistening sheets of falling dew shine in the sky with a faint but radiant glimmer. The determined drumming of beaded pearls relentlessly pelt the Earth turning soft dirt into muck and mud. Sprinkling showers fall into subdued puddles and lazy streams of liquid life. The drops form chaotic patterns of ever expanding circles on the faces of those puddles. They are hypnotic and try to lull you into a trance. As they fall tiny, jewelled-drops, wet, watery-plops settle to sparkle on the windowsills. Life outside the window is distorted by distracting drizzles and trails of tears. The rain beats down consistently and continuously calling from some unknown place. 

As soothing as rain is, the effects can also be awe-inspiring and disastrously deadly. Flooding, monsoons, the rain, not only merciless, is also blind and unthinking. It can't gauge when the rushing river is too high. It can't guess when the dam will overflow to drown the Earth in a deluge of water. It can't predict it's own strength nor strive to tame it.  Terrible clashes of thunder and terrifying bolts of lightening flash and roar in the skies, tormenting our children and keeping us from sleeping at night. Torrents of rain are nature's disaster. This is the extent to which it demands respect.  The rain, without sympathy, carries on. It only recognizes duty.

It is also where elements come together. The vaporous clouds heavy with rain, give out through sheer inability to hold the weight of the water. The rain falls and feeds the Earth, nurtures its ability to in turn nurture us. Without rain, it reminds us, there is no life. On hot days the glare of the sun is overpoweringly able to evaporate all moisture. Our natural bodies yearn for water. We all have that in common. The birds, the plants, animals and our human dependency on the refreshing qualities of precious water rewrite borders, win and lose wars and constantly change the futures for all of us. Death descends where there is no water. Starvation is evident. Yet even in the most scorched areas of our planet, where there is nothing but sun and sand, there is still the hope for the soft sounds of rain.