A rainy afternoon

There is something about the rain that casts a magical spell on me. I think there is something profoundly romantic about the grey overcast sky through which the sun is trying to break through, creating a strange kind of light that plays on the grass, the trees, everything around.....the showers that drench the leaves on the trees and magically turn everything a bright green....the sound of the wind through the trees, the rain splashing on my door, my windows, the pitter patter on the roof.....the smell of the earth, fresh and clean.....it's nature's way of washing and making everything fresh and whole again.

It has rained intermittently almost the entire day and I know for a fact it is going to make the evening rush hour traffic even worse. The rain always slows things up on the freeway. And people returning home from work will be cross and irritable, poked by umbrellas, sloshed in puddles, hungry and late. But I have the priviledge of sitting at home this afternoon and not have to worry about getting home in the traffic or the rain and therefore can indulge myself a little to admire the rain for what it is doing to the greenery that stares at me through the window. The sky is still overcast, the shower has ceased for a bit, there are birds on the trees that are shaking the water out of their wings and trying to get dry and everything looks so green and beautiful.

I have a million Rabindrasangeets racing through my mind and I find myself humming the tune of one. I have a whole lot of work to do, yet, there is something in the air that makes me want to sing or paint or simply sit near the window and take time to actually see how wonderful things are. I've missed the rain the last six years living in the midwest. It never rained like it used to rain in Calcutta. But Virginia is different. It rains. Just like the way it used to in Calcutta. I love it when it rains here.