April Showers

I know, I know, it's a cheesy post.  We were all fed the pablum of "April showers bring May flowers" when we were young and pissed off that we couldn't go outside to play.  And part of me still feels that way.  It was great to finally get out in the garden and start working on it the past two days.  But it's raining now, and I can only look outside at that gentle precipitation and try to fall in love with it.

It is quite lovely, really.  And the black dirt in my garden beds is even blacker when wet.  The carrots, beets and peas that I've already planted are being nourished.  And maybe this rain will prod the asparagus heads to begin emerging.  (This is the third year of asparagus, the year that I can actually harvest and eat it!)  If it weren't true that this past winter was so long and unforgiving, I might be able to embrace April rain  more willingly.  Instead, I am charged with convincing myself that this is a good thing.

Time to put things in perspective.  My daughter Jenna lives in the rainforest near Cairns in Queensland, Australia.  At this very moment, she is hunkered down at the SFS centre as Cyclone Ita bears down on them.  Winds are predicted to increase to 100 mph and over two inches of rain is expected.  Her last communication with me revealed that they expect to lose power at some point.  (This is particularly bad timing, as I am attempting to complete her 2013 income tax return and cannot do so without some information from her.  I wonder if the IRS will understand if her return is submitted late?)

So yes, the gentle rain that is falling here is love-worthy.  I doubt if my daughter and her companions are in love with the heavy rain that is hammering them right now.  Was it Aristotle who cautioned us: All things in moderation?  Or maybe that was my mother.  Whatever.  A battering downpour is a thing to survive.  A gentle rain is a thing with which to fall in love.