Rain drops keep falling on my head...

Summer rainstorms....the very best kind.  Although I'll take rain in any season.  Well, maybe not winter.  Because if it's raining in winter that means it's too warm for snow.  Which means I'm irrationally grumpy.  Because I really get a kick out of snow as well.  In my opinion, winter is not winter without snow and lots of it.  But I'm starting to slide off onto a tangent now.  Hang on...let's get back on track.  Where were we?  Ah, that's right....summer rain.  We had some this weekend.  And Mother Nature was so considerate in her timing as to plan it for right after our trip to the zoo on Friday.  (More on that later.)

On our way home we found ourselves driving through a massive downpour.  Speeds on the freeway knocked down to 30 mph and windshield wipers flapping back and forth at such a high rate they looked like they were going to wrench off and take flight any moment.  We drove through the storm to the calm on the other side.  But about 20 minutes after we arrived home, the storm caught up with us.  The rain was so welcome to me that I stood listening and watching and found myself yearning (yes...yearning, really) to leave the dry safety of the the back porch and play in the wet.  But I stopped myself.  In an hour I was scheduled to meet some friends for a birthday girls night.  Did I really want to get drenched and have to change clothes and re-do my hair?  Did I have time for that?  As I was debating, Julianne and Lilian came happily tearing past me on their way to the delightfully soggy yard.  It took less than a minute of watching before I decided.  *YOLO!!  (As Rebekah's friends would say.  I think realistically the actual phrase that went through my head was, "Ah, what the heck!")  We ran through the rain.  We danced.  We sang rain songs.  We sought out and splashed in puddles.  And it was the most glorious fun I have had in a long time!

*YOLO: You Only Live Once

I woke up to pounding rain against my windows and thunder and lightning again that night.  And smiled before I drifted back to sleep.  Then the sporadic series of rain storms followed us into Saturday.  Uncharacteristically, I was conflicted.  We had tickets to a concert that night.  The Piano Guys at the Thanksgiving Point Amphitheater.  As a family, we had been looking forward to this night for a long time.  Unless the storm was a danger to the audience and performers, we were informed that the show would go on, rain or shine.  Dopler radar showed a no-doubt-about-it chance of rain.  Would my children, and even more importantly, Bryan, happily tolerate sitting on the grass in the pouring rain to listen to a concert?  I was determined to find out.

We dressed everyone in rain gear and packed not only a blanket but a tarp.  It started sprinkling on cue as the performers came out.  And then rained off and on throughout the evening....at times rather hard.  We huddled together with our tarp pulled around and over the top of us, almost like we were in a little tent.  And we stayed and listened and enjoyed.  Oh, we were most definitely damp and cold when the concert ended...and despite loving rain, would I have rather had dry weather for the evening?  You betcha!  But the music was grand, the performers were funny and unabashedly amazed and grateful that we all stayed despite the weather.....what a unique evening!