Warm Rain

Moving has always been a great adventure for me, I was born with the gypsy spirit, a wanderer if you will.As a seven year old girl I was giddy with delight, ready to see new places and make new friends as my family left behind the thousands of colors of green in the Pacific Northwest and headed to Illinois where my father had found work a year earlier There were new things to see like fields of wheat and corn planted in perfect rows and there was Chicago, deep dish pizza, the Chicago Cubs, fancy French Restaurants  and more importantly people to meet and cultures to explore.

During those three years I would experience four real changing seasons, see the poverty of the Southside of Chicago, and feel the real economic and racial divisions that existed in the late 1960's . We saw some of the beginnings of school desegregation causing the first armed guards in public schools. In third grade I was introduced to "Woodstock" in an after school program...my parents were less than thrilled about that! All of this helped to shape the person that I am today...

There was another lesson learned that I write about today...It was before the cornfields began to show life, before the grasses had began to turn green and before the last bell had rang for the start of  summer vacation... I was outside playing at the end of our gravel driveway where it met the pavement of the street and it began to rain. It was a warm rain that when you lifted your face toward heaven you were showered in warmth and love. As my clothes were soaked it was as though they became a second skin, warm and comfortable. The water gathered in warm puddles as it ran down the streets of our small community. Children appeared from all over to dance and splash, to feel that warm spring rain that washed away the dirtiness of a long winter and brought hope through the newness of spring. The magic of that day has stayed with me teaching me of the miracles of this earth, being present to enjoy the wonderment of God, and most importantly to FEEL the warmth of the rain. Feeling is a huge part of this human experience...