"And it's such a fucking glorious feeling."
-- David Levithan, Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist
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| Self portrait 5-13-14 |
"An unexpected downpour and I'm just giving myself into it.
Because what the fuck else can you do?
Run for cover? Shriek and curse?
No -- when the rain falls you just let it fall
and you grin like a madman and you dance with it
because if you you can make yourself happy in the rain,
then you're doing pretty alright in life."
-- David Levithan, Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist
At what age does it happen that we finally decide we are too old, or too mature, or too well-coiffed, or too well-dressed, or too important, or too busy, or too grown up, or too whatever to go play in the rain, or to simply give in and stay outside when the downpour falls and let ourselves get good and soaked?
When I reach that age, I'll let you know. I hope it's never.
I credit my mother, in part, for my feelings about playing in the rain. She used to shoo me and my sisters out the door when the rains came. We'd put our puddle boots on and go stomp in the muddy trenches along our dirt road (we called it "making cement.")
I can remember how the dark coils of my sisters' wet hair looked through the see-through translucence of the drenched hoods of their nylon windbreakers.
Also, the rooster-tail spray off bike tires speeding across rain-soaked pavement is singularly pleasing, especially when you're already so wet that it doesn't matter.
There's something about being out in the rain, on purpose, when everyone else is cowering indoors, that feels a little clandestine, a little forbidden, a little crazy and outside the lines, which probably explains why I liked it so much. And why I still do.
I doubt my mom thought super deep about sending us out in the rain. I think she was just trying to get us out of the house. So what if she had an extra load of wet laundry to do afterwards? She was doing laundry 24/7 anyway, and rain is, well, water -- no biggie.
I still like getting caught in the rain, especially on a run or a bike ride when it falls in welcome relief after a string of oppressively hot summer days. Thunder and lighting don't even bother me. I've had people slow their cars alongside me and roll down their windows to offer me a ride, and I always say "No thanks. I'm good." And I am, even though they look at me like I'm crazy.
I think it's ironic that people don't like getting their hair or their clothes wet in the rain, but they regularly take showers and soak their clothes in machines full of water.
Make up your minds.
I don't typically dole out parenting advice, but here goes.
This summer, when it rains, send your kids outside to play in it. Don't make a big deal about it. Just act like it's a perfectly normal thing to do. Because it is. You let them run through the sprinkler don't you?
You can watch from the window, or you can join them, which will either up your cool factor a ton, or embarrass the shit out of them, which is always a fun bonus.
And if you don't have kids, just go out there anyway, especially if your mother never let you. When everybody else is popping up umbrellas and racing for cover, go ahead and stomp in the puddles. Get soaked.
It may not be so great for your hairdo, your makeup or your clothes, but it's good for your spirit.
You know what the one good thing about a rainy day is?
The rain.
