Monday, April 13, 2009

Dark Day With Rain: That Elixir Of Life

Even while I was born in Seattle and raised here -- I have never gotten "used" to experiencing day after day of rain. Most people who live here for very long know the joke about natives from Western Washington supposedly having 'webbed feet' since we're regularly swimming in the water that falls here.

Well, my toes are NOT webbed (thank you very much) and I'd much prefer to be basking in 90 degree sunshine right about now. Fact is, after too many cloudy-days in a row, this Seattle native is beginning to feel despondent with so much precipitation.

I seriously relate to Persephone who was kidnapped from the flowering fields belonging to her mother and stolen away to live deep inside the bowels of earth -- down into the depths of Hades. Everything feeling foreign, dark and dreary.

On these physically dark days, I hail the African Coffee Gods (drink their joe and take them inside) just to feel better; emotionally. I feel grateful for the warm energy that black coffee brings to my body. Perhaps that is why Seattle is known as the "Coffee Capital of The Word." During suicide weather -- people will do almost anything to feel more vibrant -- and we drink a lot of coffee (I've consumed a whole pot by myself already this morning).

The above photo is of my front yard. I collect frogs for yard ornaments because they are sacred to Hecate (and I love frogs; besides). Most frogs thrive in moisture and their likenesses that I keep in my yard reminds me of how many native animal species here truly require rainfall simply to live. The frog totems remind me to put things in perspective and feel grateful for the rain.

The last photo is of my chicken coop. You can see the orange cord that runs electricity into the hen-house. It provides my birds with precious artificial light while the dark clouds make the days so dreary otherwise.

A new thought came to me the other day -- one of self-realization. I often feel amazed by people who do not garden. In my opinion, they seem much too far removed from their food source to be able to appreciate the Earth and all She offers to sustain us. [In a very opinionated manner, I assume those people who do not grow their own food and connect with Earth daily are more likely to pollute and throw litter out their car windows.]

Meanwhile, I realize aspects of my own shallow personality whenever it rains. Instead of happily flowing with the surprises that seasonal changes bring, instead of rejoicing with the weather provided by each new day, I secretly yearn to command the weather -- tell the rain to stay at bay (at least until I can plant my vegetable seeds!).

Having made a trip to the post office this morning -- and then having stopped at the department store to pick up some white thread for mending a blanket -- I felt glad to observe how the rain inspired people to run from their cars to the store front. Children who ran with their mothers seemed gleeful for the puddles and purposefully stomped through them -- laughing.

Thus -- I have another reason to be thankful for the rain. The wonder of it presents yet another amazing opportunity for child-like playfulness.

7 comments:

LearningLifelong said...

I am not looking forward to April showers but I know the river is very low this year and if we do not get enough rain there will be forest fires in my area this summer.

I hope soon it will be warm enough for me to plant seeds outside. I do have Cilantro in one of the upstairs windows right now though. I decided to grow it this year since I use so much of it in my cooking.

SunTiger said...

Panademona ~ Remind my readers where you live, exactly? {The rivers are very high here in Western Washington -- due to springtime flooding}.

Cygnus MacLlyr said...

I believe it does, SunTigress...

I love rain and storms, but then I don't live Washington State way...lol!

I'm with you on the gardening... dissociation with the reality of food infects a lot of our species now-a-days...

Hope those seeds get a cloudbreak soon!

Thanks for the pictures, Lady! Stay warm, and darin a cuppa for me, wouldja?!?

Thanks!

Breath-e said...

And there it is again...the youth keeping us all young.

SunTiger said...

Cygnus MacLlyr ~ drinking the Joe in your honor. :D

Breath-e ~ And yet that adage does not always prove to be so -- a screaming child in a public setting can make everyone feel very old indeed.

... said...

Rain, Rain Go Away.... LOL! Ugh. It has been raining alot here as well.... Guess I should be glad, my early garden seedlings are getting watered.. I have planted my lettuce, pea pods, broccoli, and cucumber seeds... Can't wait for summer!!!!!

LearningLifelong said...

I live in the Interior of British Columbia, Canada. That would be Southwestern Canada but not in the coastal region. :-) About a 2 hour drive north of Spokane, Washington.

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