Rainy days

There's an older song that goes something like this: "Rainy days and Mondays always get me down". Apparently the singer/songwriter suffers from SAD. ;)

Monday is not my favorite day, either. But rain I can usually handle. I love the rain...a good thunderstorm or gully washer most of all. I love the fresh scent of the air; the patter of raindrops on the roof. I even like to watch the dark clouds swirling overhead, sometimes resembling an odd set of brushstrokes on canvas.

What I don't like, however, are endless days of rain. No sun. No light. Just gray, dim skies and landscape for miles and hours on end.

This time of year the rainy gloom is more tolerable. Thanks to the lovely array and shades of red, orange, and gold dotting the landscape, everything seems more colorful, less dreary. Even the deep gray of the sky and the ever-deepening mud don't bother me.

I suppose that's one reason Fall is my favorite season. I've always loved the way the air becomes cooler. I relish in the occasional whiff of woodsmoke on the breeze. The colors; the holidays; the full silver moon so low on the horizon. Have you ever stopped to watch a sunset over the a patchwork of brightly colored trees? It's beautiful. Enchanting. It's a picture worth capturing -- an image worth savoring.

My dh said he once dreaded this season. It reminded him of how life was passing by -- of all the things he hadn't accomplished, yet. Luckily his outlook has changed, because I've never seen it that way. To me, Autumn is about resting...renewing our spirits...it's about coming home.

But then there's that rain ... we need a little of that, too, don't we? Otherwise we'd get much too complacent in our lives. We become lazy or take what's important for granted.

So I'd change those song lyrics, if I could. Mondays still get me down. But rain? Bring it on.

Oh, wait. That's another song! ;)