All over the U.S., we are experiencing horrible drought conditions. Our yard is falling dormant and walking across it sounds like crunching leaves in the fall. My daughter is particularly tired of being cooped up inside to avoid the intense heat. I hadn't noticed how difficult this was to her until we went shopping the other day and she took great joy in running up and down the aisles. I know, I'm sorry my kid is "that kid", but if you had seen the joy of freedom on her face, perhaps you would have realized, as I did, that the poor thing has needed to do that for some time now.
We fiercely need rain. Not a light rain, but a good solid rain that comes and goes over the course of a few days. My flowers are all shriveling up and trying to shrink from the scorching blaze that never seems to go away, even at night time. (I know that doesn't make sense, but when the nightly low is 84 I have decided the sun must come out again while we are sleeping to keep things so hot.)
The dry conditions remind me of a time when my brother and I were young. We were both still in elementary school. It had been hot and dry for awhile and everyone was complaining we needed rain. I don't remember who had the idea first, but we got it in our heads to do a rain dance. We took brown grocery bags cut and painted them for costumes. We made headdresses with feathers on them and proceeded to do a rain dance in the middle of our driveway. I can promise you that we shamed Native American culture with whatever moves and chants we made up. I don't think the dance lasted long. I have a feeling the preparation of the whole thing was the real time commitment, but we did it.
No... I mean we DID IT...we brought on the rain. Later that evening it did, in fact, rain. More than three drops. Seriously, a good, solid rain. The details of the dance and even the costumes are fuzzy. I am sure my mom has a picture of us somewhere. What I remember is that feeling that we DID IT! We were so excited. I remember feeling so POWERFUL!! We defied science and the weathermen. Ha!
I have been thinking of that memory often. Not just the whimsical thought of getting out on my driveway and doing a rain dance to give my poor plants some relief, but also the sense of power and accomplishment that moment brought into my elementary-aged life. It was like someone pouring a pitcher full of hope and moxie all over me. In the last couple of years my life has changed drastically. Completing a master's degree and going from a couple to a family of four has been a whirlwind of change, not always easy change either. In that short time, I have had days where I have needed a pitcher of hope and moxie poured over me again. New challenges await everyday. Sometimes you may be living in a drought. I am reminding myself, sometimes the rain will come, but sometimes you gotta make your own rain... you just gotta dance!
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