Every storm runs out of rain

There are a few things that you can expect of the weather when living in South Florida. The first being that it is a humid hot outside of the winter months. The second, that people who live here think that the 60's is freezing and dress as if it might snow. The third, and most dependable, is that once May roles around you can expect rain at some point everyday until around October/November.

I happen to love storms. Some of my fondest memories, both from childhood and adulthood, have involved playing in the rain. I can remember being little and splashing puddle to puddle being sure to absolutely soak whoever was walking near me. I can also remember one birthday where it was a sleepover and there was a bad storm. So bad that the rain was flooding the ditches causing the water to cap over the driveways. So naturally we had to go jump around and lay in the ditches. I also remember running up and down the street with my dad, jumping in the pot holes and playing in the ditches. Tons of rainy days at Lynchburg College were spent out on the Dell, on the track, outside the theatre, and even on the sand volleyball court. The most recent memory being that of playing in the rain with my fiancee and taking pictures of the two of us.

Now that I live somewhere with reliable rain, I have yet to find someone who still embraces that childhood wonderment of playing in the rain and letting the drops splash against your face. I often get strange looks when I go outside barefoot and kick at the puddles while just letting the rain fall down over me. I still enjoy it and sometimes I want to just shake people and ask them why being an adult (without kids) means that our fun can't be something as simple as playing in the rain or playing tag. I feel that forgetting how to be a kid drives people to a place where stress is something nearly impossible to deal with. I know too many people near my age that when they have had a rough week/day/what have you, they quickly turn to wanting to go have a drink (and I don't mean high-c) or that they want to go to the club/bar/etc. Sometimes it makes me question if I am even more of an oddball then I originally thought but I enjoy just reading a book, building with some small lego sets, playing games, and playing in the rain (oh and watching Darkwing Duck and A Pup Names Scooby-Doo).

I hope that I get the chance to keep having my kid moments. I never want to loss my sense of wonder or my enjoyment of the rain falling against my face. I want to have memories that I am not afraid to share with my future children and those people (both colleagues and students) that I work with.

So on that note I leave you to go see if it is still raining and to hop from puddle to puddle if it is.