Why does everything seem brighter after it rains? Yesterday was wet and gray, a good time to stay inside and read a book. Today dawned foggy, then cleared to a brilliant blue sky, with just a few pure white clouds floating by, and all the bright colors of autumn.
As we walked down the street, I kept making my husband stop so I could take pictures. Yellow leaves against the blue sky. Two crows perched high up in a tree. The pattern of sunlight across a leaf-strewn lawn. Water droplets hanging from trees and grass. Everything looked fresh and clean, and it felt so good to be out in it.
I don’t think I’d like to live where it’s always sunny. How special would blue skies be if they were just an everyday occurrence? Here in western Oregon, clouds and rain are the norm this time of year, and we do tend to complain about them a fair amount. “After the rain” generally means a brief respite between wet spells. But boy, do we appreciate those respites!
I think the comparison works metaphorically, as well. Without the pain of life’s trials, would we truly appreciate the joy of the good times? “Into each life some rain must fall,” Henry Wadsworth Longfellow said, but he also reminded us that “behind the clouds is the sun still shining.” And when that sun finally breaks through the clouds, what amazing beauty it brings!
Sparrow Thoughts 