Rain

It’s raining in San Francisco. A lot. Out my window, sheets of rain are pounding the pavement, the mayten trees are dancing in the wind, little rivulets are running down 2^nd Avenue. All the teachers I know are huddled around their computers filling out report cards and no one loves it, but if it has to be, a rainy day is perfect.

In the Sierras, the snow is falling, the ski lodge owners are huddled around roaring fires raising their glasses to each snowflake. Out on the farms, the farmers and their vegetables are happy. The California grasses are pleased to be dressed in green again after a too-long season of dull brown. The streams and rivers are flowing, the salmon swimming upstream (I saw some last week in Marin County!). The reservoirs are slowly filling and happily await the Spring’s snowpack melt.

No one is complaining. Nor should they in these years of drought. And though the rain is a great sign, we're not out of the woods yet. It feels like it has rained more this year by this time than last, but turns out November and December last year had 25 rainy days with 14 inches of rain and this year, just 20 days with a mere 7 inches. But last year, it barely rained from January to April and this year, there is a lot predicted. And should the rains persist back to a normal annual rainfall, there still is the backlog of dry years that demands a bit more. So we take comfort in each drop that falls and hope for more and yet more.

Rain is nature’s way of renewal, of sustaining the cycles that nourish life, of quenching World’s thirsts, clearing the air and making the reappearance of sun and blue sky yet more welcome and savored. In the human world, it’s a great excuse to stay under the covers in bed reading Sherlock Holmes, listen to (or play) Chopin, watch an old film noir. All of which is more fun than writing report cards.

But 4^th grade calls. Happy rainy day!