Just Be

Today was a busy day, working and running errands and trying to get everything done that needed to be done. Long day, busy streets, going to the market, I was really ready to get home. When I left the grocery store I noticed a thunderstorm moving in. As I turned into my neighborhood, I had a better view of the sky all around and was surprised by the sight. On one side of the sky there were deep grey clouds, and on the other, sunshine breaking through amid patches of blue. And in the middle of the sky where the two met, there was rain falling down, not too hard, not just a drip, but a steady, gentle rain, like a veil cascading over the deep green grass that lined the sides of the streets as I drove by. When I pulled into my driveway I opened my car door, and the rich smell of fresh earth and green, green grass permeated the air as I got out and took a deep breath. Such a beautiful sight, those rain drops, refracting the sunlight like hundreds of tiny prisms dancing about in the air and against the pavement. I got out of my car, the warm summer air all around me like an old friend, and as I took another deep breath of the rain-fragrant air, a deep distant rumble of thunder rolled across the landscape. I walked out to my back yard and took it all in, leaving the umbrella behind. The raindrops were falling softly against a canopy of deep green leaves and ivy behind my home, and the birds were flying about high above between the branches of the trees and up into the sky, as if telling me to remember what life is really about and to just be. I looked at the rain falling down and couldn’t help but grin and feel myself laugh as the drops tickled my face, and I took off my shoes as I watched the birds lark about, and remembered that there is so much to be grateful for; I can see; there were summer sounds all around me; I heard the sound of the distant thunder and the birds singing and a tiny frog hidden away somewhere in the brush croaking, as though telling an amusing story to himself, and I remembered that I can hear; I felt the warm wet ground beneath my feet as I stood there, rain falling on me, all around me, and remembered that I can feel; I breathed in deep breaths of the warm summer air, all heavy with rain and sunlight, and I remembered that I can breathe. Gifts that mean so much, and that I too often forget to be grateful for in the middle of the hustle and bustle. It is so easy to forget to just be. The best gifts are often the most simple and I am reminded of what really matters when all is said and done. Now let me look about, there must be a rainbow hidden away amongst those clouds.