Rain, Rain, Beautiful Rain!

"Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass. It's about learning to dance in the rain." - Anonymous.

It's been a bit dry in our area this spring, so the past few days of pouring-down rain have been more than welcome. There hasn't been any flooding, just the earth drinking it down, turning everything green.

I was on Penn State's campus most of the day Tuesday for meetings, and managed to fit in a quick visit to the duck pond. I had a huge umbrella that opened to a span of nearly six feet.

Wouldn't you think that I would have been dry? But I felt a drip at one point and looked up to find - yep - the umbrella was leaking! Picture me balancing my umbrella in one hand and my camera in the other, snapping away in the pouring-down rain.

Everywhere I looked was beauty. All slick surfaces, fresh, clean, shiny, wet. Everything was born anew, made perfect, in the spring rain. It was astounding, refreshing, enchanting, invigorating. A day to be glad to be alive.

I stopped on the porch of the University House (which used to be where our university presidents would live) for a break from juggling both umbrella and camera, and took some photos of the lovely grounds by the duck pond.

Azaleas in bright pink. Purple allium. Snapdragons in a rainbow of colors. Bleeding heart dangling dainty blossoms along the trail. Some of the first iris I've seen blooming this season. A charming white gazebo. And the smells - oh, heavenly spring flower smells everywhere.

And then, just in front of me, a small herd of ducklings of assorted sizes - tired, I guess, of huddling beneath the mother duck, who had been doing her best to keep them sheltered from the pouring rain - escaped the auspices of their watchful mother, trampled their way through a break in the bushes, and began playing in the puddles right in front of me.

Was there ever a girl as lucky as me, to have seen so many beautiful things in one day? Well, yes, I got a bit wet, but sometimes a bit of inconvenience is the price you pay for the privilege of experiencing beauty. :-)

And now, here's a song for dancing in the rain. It's a link to a YouTube clip of Ladysmith Black Mombazo, singing Rain, Rain, Beautiful Rain.

Oh, rain, rain, beautiful rain . . .