Rain, Rain ... Stay!

How many times, as a child, did you sing "Rain, rain, go away?"

Rain, rain, go away,
come again another day.
Little Johnny 
wants to play. 

Because I remember and can sing the tune so well, I think I must have sung it thousands of times. We replaced the name "Johnny" with my name, my brother's or sister's, and later, with my children's names. The song would come about when we endured a day or two more of rain and were feeling cooped up and wanted to be outside.

In retrospect, as Central Texas endures a debilitating drought, I would love to have the Mother Goose song be eliminated from pre-school and elementary school song lists, for Texas at least. While some areas of the country endure rainy weather for weeks and months at a time (May Gray and June Gloom in California), in the Austin area, we LOVE the rain. Sure, it was a downer on all those weekender events planned for Memorial Day weekend on the lake and in backyard pools, but alternatives to the rain exist.

As we attended an outdoor concert on Saturday night, attacked by a deluge of rain five minutes after we arrived, people adapted. The kids played in puddles and splashed around in the rain. The performers, just a couple out of about six, moved under the cabana and sang with just a guitar and a mike.

On Sunday, out on the lake, we hung out on the boat dock as the sprinkles came and went, and eventually moved the chips, bread and sandwich makings to the porch up the lawn. While we were on the lake, it rained for maybe ten minutes, but aren't boats and their passengers allowed to be wet?

Monday morning brought thunderstorms and rain, rain, rain until early afternoon. Perfect weather for sleeping in and taking care of indoor tasks, but it didn't keep my teenage daughter from participating in the wet skies and road and taking a run. With more rain in the forecast, we are rejoicing and willing to pull out our umbrellas.

I love watching the rain on the radar, as it approaches from the west, east, north or south. I take delight in the lightening and thunder, especially when it is dark outside. Rain is an ally, a partner, and a friend, that I do not want to go away,

Fireflies are here!

From the top, it looks like a one-eyed insect, larger than a lady bug but smaller than a grasshopper. The red, upper crown with the single "black eye" and searching antennae, along with the black body sprouting spindly legs is nothing special to look at, until the sun starts to set and the winged critter begins to fly among the trees and bushes of the front or back lawn. You see, this is a unique creature that has an extraordinary ability to illuminate the evening sky with dedicated "light organs" in its abdomen.

This paper clip-sized beetle is the delight of young and old as the start of summer approaches. I felt an ease and pleasure as I saw my first fireflies of the season last night. Its a special time of year for me, because I have so many fond memories of playing with them and catching them as a child. We would carry around a mayonnaise or mason jar, and place some grass and picked wildflowers in it, as lightening bugs enjoy feasting on pollen. When we saw the intermittent flashing of the abdomen, the brother, sister or friend, without the jar, would chase after it and capture it in his or her hands and throw it in the jar. The poor thing would have to flutter about the container with holes punched in the metal top without a friend, until one of us was able to catch another. What fun it was to watch them glow together.

The emotional impression of fireflies that I have is the knowledge that summer is beginning. With children, this means I can sleep in a little every morning, and have a long afternoon involved in a project without school activity interruptions. In central Texas, it means long summer evenings with light in the sky until 10 pm in late June. It means warm nights. I feel the ease of hanging out with friends on the back porch, playing darts, gatherings with family with young children, barbecues, boats and beaches. With summer, I have rest, friendship and fun. Welcome fireflies!

I'm an ADD Writer

Sitting, standing, walking, lying down. I can write in all of those positions, and I do, on a regular basis.

When imagining me writing, one should not visualize me hunkering down on the computer for hours and days at a time. It's 15-30 minutes MAX that I can stay sitting at a computer writing. Often, I stand over the computer taking notes to a client's video, while I stretch out.  This is after taking a one and a half to three mile walk up and down strenuous hills, while either reading or listening to client presentations, and then typing information about it into an email to myself. the writing provides a perfect distraction to the strain on my legs and the beating down of the sun on my head.

Lying on my bed is not a regular position for me, as when I move to the bedroom to work, my eyes picture the lateral position, my sense of touch recognizes feel of the soft pillows, and my nose detects the leftover effects of the aromatic "bedtime" spray. It's a lot quieter in there, perfect for repose. I don't last very long before my eyelids hover over my eyeballs, my head begins to nod, and I lose track of what I'm reading and writing. Oh, and I forgot about the driving position. After researching a project all day, I may record insight via the speaker module of the phone, again, in an email to myself to be copied and pasted into the completed document.

If I'm not writing, I'm attending to the list that grows by the hour of chores, exercises and tasks to complete each day, week and month. It runs from the loading of the laundry in the washer and dryer to cooking the meals in daily chores to self-pedicures and physical fitness for personal revival. By the time I've taken my daughter to school and picked her up in the afternoon, I've consumed two hours of my day, which leaves less time for hammering out words on the computer. And speaking of consuming, food is another huge distraction. A multi-level indulgence of nuts, fruit, yogurt, veggies, salty snacks and candy can make up one "meal" over a four hour period.  That's a movement for each item - stand up, go to refrigerator, pantry or desk to retrieve it, wash it, unwrap it or pop it into my mouth.

So why am I a writer, you may ask, thinking that writer types spit out thousands of words per day on a keyboard, conjuring, explaining and describing all types of material for students and clients, from resorts in Australia to a dentist office in California. In addition to the constant movement my body requires, my brain also experiences the traveling of thoughts in and out, up and down. There are cards to write, art materials to collect and assemble, in addition to the myriad of clients for which to write. It all needs to spill out somewhere, and why not here and there?

I am an ADD writer, and I wouldn't have it any other way.

Setting

Tonight I appreciated the sun at the end of the day, as it appears to fall in the sky, off the edge of the earth. Travelling west, towards the grand Texas Hill Country, I encountered the most wonderful panorama surrounding the ball of fire as it slowly made its way through the feathery, waterflow-shaped clouds. The road took me down, through the valley of Bee Creek, and then winded up to a plateau at the top of the canyon, viewing the grand sky and a much larger vista, allowing miles and miles of scenic views.

My first observation of the gorgeous sight was at the top of the first descent, where little evidence of population exists. The golden orb was slightly masked by sheets of clouds at the bottom, but they were transparent enough to see a faint outline of the bottom of the circle. While the tiny water droplets floating in the sky were tinted by the apparent color of the sun and its refraction off the earth, they took on a more rosy glow as the landscape extended around it. The sun was a lighter, brighter, whiter circle in the sky that was pasted onto the background with the tissue-paper like clouds upon it. The very blue sky of springtime contrasted and merged with the pomegranate red, orange sweet potato and yellow mango of the color wheel, with wisps of white and other white daring to cross the spectrum. The distraction was great, as I wanted to keep my eyes on the perceived movement of the sun, as opposed to the swiftly moving cars around me.

The power and heat of the sun was upon me as I squinted behind my sunglasses, and failed at adjusting the visor to cover its brightness. I gave in to the beauty of the sky, flipped up the shade, and considered pulling over to take a photo, but knew that it was futile to capture the beauty, and the feeling of peace and awe that the picture had upon me at that instant. I wanted to stay in that inspiring moment for as long as possible, but alas, I descended into the valley of the river and as the earth turned, the panorama was obstructed by yet another bump in the landscape, and the elusive sunset, and view of it, escaped me.

I do hope to capture the setting sun, and the pleasure of its beauty, again tomorrow.