Gentle Rain

Today was one of those lovely days when the sky is quiet and the rain is gentle.  I awoke to a thunderstorm, the kind that makes you want to stay tucked in.  But as the morning progressed, the gentler the rain became. As I drove to a conference in a nearby community today, a song ran through my head that my good friend Charlene and I sang at church a couple of years ago.  The piece of music was written to sound like gently falling rain, especially when two voices sing it in a cappella harmony.  As much as I love the vibrancy and get-up-and-go quality of sunshine, I need an occasional gentle-rain kind of day when my words become more reflective and thoughtful and my demeanor more quiet and reserved.  I think I listen more on rainy days, for there's just less to say.  Today's rain has made the grass even greener, the tulip heads pop up, and the young leaves on the trees unfurl just a little more.  One bit of sadness, though -- A beautiful magnolia tree I have so enjoyed the past week lost most of its ephemeral translucent, white blossoms in the rain and those that are left on the tree look wilted.  A pool of spent white petals surround the tree's base.  Despite the disappointment of the falling magnolia petals, today's gentle, falling rain brought a much-appreciated peace and contentment to my being.