Right As Rain a.k.a The Bug & The Pea Get Drenched

Right As Rain A bottle of blue soap sits on my kitchen sink. It’s called “Rain.” The scent is lovely and refreshing. I love the smell of rain. Yesterday during a storm, I stood under cover of my front porch and took deep breaths, eyes closed. The Pea thought I was out of my ever-lovin’ mind. But what a brilliant idea to capture the smell of rain in a product meant to clean, like soap. Rain is such a phenomenal cleansing agent. (Especially when we’re talking about the hood of my car, covered in bird do-do, and the rain shower cleans it off.) Doesn’t it seem as if the world is a cleaner place after a rainfall? As if the water washes away all that is wrong and leaves a shiny newness. During the summer it rains most every day in New Orleans. The beginning of the day is sweltering, but the storm comes along and cools everything off significantly. The evenings are much more pleasant than you might imagine. We try to keep umbrellas handy, especially when running errands. The general rule of thumb is: if I’m exiting the Winn-Dixie with a mound of groceries in my care = torrential downpour. The Bug and the Pea love to play in the rain. (Which is ironic since the Bug is terrified of thunder, anyhoooooo…) They make no pretense of staying dry. In fact, they don swimsuits and spin around our backyard. Their favorite spot is beneath the tree branches. They’ll reach out and gently shake the branch to experience the “shower” of water in the midst of the rain. This afternoon some sweet friends from Kentucky met up with us at Audubon Park. On our drive to the park, the kids were at each others’ throats. (Which seems to be the new norm as we near the end of summer and our 24/7 togetherness bonding time.) I mean we’re talking two seriously grumpy little girls. (“Don’t make me pull this car over!”) I warned them within an inch of their lives to behave when we were with our friends. (Especially since I’ve secretly betrothed my oldest child to my friend’s oldest son, anyhoooo…) We parked the car, hugs all around! Right on schedule, a storm rolled through. We stayed dry beneath a shelter and visited. While the grown ups chatted, the four children inched their way ever closer to the shelter’s edge. The rain came down in sheets. After a few minutes, the Bug could stand it no longer. She asked permission to run in the rain. As all lightning and thunder had subsided, I gave her my blessing. Before long, all four children were chasing each other in the rain. Pure unadulterated bliss. Splashing puddles, arms in the air. The Bug sprinted in the shelter, removed her tennis shoes, drained them out and replaced them on her soggy-socked feet. Giggling the whole time. The kids were beyond drenched. Dinnertime approached and we said our goodbyes. My girls huddled together and raced to the car, laughing along the way. Thankfully we had some dry beach towels in the car. The ride home was much more pleasant. My backseat was filled with two giggly girls in squisy-squashy shoes, hair dripping, wrapped in towels. It was as if the rain washed away all of their grumpiness and replaced it with the newness of joy.