Age: 21
Postmark: Wyoming
The memory exercises are back! To join the conversation, simply add your post in the comments. This week: write about a memory that in some way involves rain. As always, it doesn't have to make any great point, just render it as vividly as you can, using all your senses!
My wife and I were down in coastal Delaware in late September of 2010 to run a 5k. I love going down there to do the race because it forces me to get to the beach one last time before the weather turns. We had a nice little camping spot at Delaware Seashore State Park where we set up out tent. The campground is right next to the inlet into the bay, has about a 5 minuet walk to the beach and also has a nice view of the construction being done on Route 1’s bridge (construction that’s been going on for at least 7 years). There was no rain the night before the race, but there was some serious wind wiping around all night. Not only was our tent flapping around and snapping in the wind, but all the other tents at the campground were making the same noise, making it seem like were were in some sort of shanty town. Luckily I slept like a baby with the assistance of the beers drank previously that night.
ReplyDeleteWe had nice weather for the race, but while watching the Eagles play at The Lighthouse the rain started. It’s quite a disheartening feeling to see rain pouring down and know that you are going to have to go out and sleep in a tent all night. We stayed at the bar for quite awhile hoping the rain would let up but it never did. When we got back to the campsite we settled in for a long night of the sound of rain drops and questioning the weatherproof abilities of our tent. Luckily we decided to put most of our things into the car because at some point during the night we began to take in water. It never dripped in through the top of the tent, but it was definitely coming in from the floor. Being savvy campers we were sleeping on an air mattress (albeit on that slowly deflated throughout the night) so we were kept off the wet ground. I was pretty relieved that I put my iphone into the hanging pockets of the tent walls rather than on the floor with my clothes, otherwise my iphone would have met its demise much earlier (I ended up dropping it in a hot tub later on anyway). It rained all night and sometime the next morning we decided to pack up our stuff and head home during a lull in the storm. It wasn’t particularly enjoyable but it could have been much worse. As we packed up the tent I looked over at the campsite in the corner of the campground. This campsite was at a low point and a puddle had accumulated leaving the campers there in at least a foot and a half of water. My wife and I might not of had the best of nights, but I couldn't really complain when I looked at the miserable faces on those guys.
Last summer I went on my first visit to Drexel. It was a very gloomy day and it was sporadically raining throughout the day. As it neared time to head home, the rain began to pick up. I had to drive home and I knew that this would not be a fun trip. To my surprise, the trip was not terrible and there was not too much traffic. I thought that I was in the clear until my family and I reached the Verrazano Bridge. Once we arrived at the bridge, traffic stood still. Winds began to pick up as we got to the middle of the bridge and my family could feel the car being hit by the wind. Just when I thought things couldn’t get worse, I saw a cone on the ground in front of my car. I could not get out of the way as it started to blow towards me due to the massive amount of traffic. Hoping that my car would just crush the cone, my car came to a halt. I could not accelerate forwards or backwards. I was stuck on a bridge in hurricane winds and pouring rain. With no other options I had to get out of the car. Once I stepped out my heart sank. I felt as though I was going to get blown off the bridge. Holding on to the car I crawled on my knees under my car and pried the cone out from the undercarriage. After about five minutes of pulling the cone, it was finally out. Now that I was soaked, I got back into my car and proceeded to sit in traffic. The cone now sits in my garage as memory of this experience.
ReplyDeleteThe strongest memory I have involving rain was my first ever lacrosse game. I can remember the nervous excitement on the bus going to the other school just like it was yesterday. I was in the 10th grade at the time and it was the first year my school had ever had lacrosse as a sport. I had seen videos of the sport before and saw how much fun it looked so I made the decision to try out. I made the team and enjoyed practice every day. I learned more and more about the tactics and how to actually play the game. There was something else that was special about me playing lacrosse too; it was the first full contact sport I had played. And at my size I was always at a disadvantage because I could be slammed out of the way easier, but I still played using speed and agility rather than brute force.
ReplyDeleteAfter about two weeks of practice, it was time for a game. So after school on that day the whole entire team loaded up on a bus and got ready to go to North Point high school, one of our biggest rivals. Once we got halfway to the school, I noticed rain started to splatter the windows. Not too hard a first, just a drizzle to start. At the time it did not really matter to me though, I was more focused on physical beating ahead from the enemy team. I knew from the start that half the other players only played lacrosse because they could hit other players; I played from my love of the sport.
We arrived to the school shortly after and were greeted by the sneers of the other team who were starting to warm up. As we were walking off the bus it continued to drizzle. We walked around the back half of the school and down into the stadium. We all started assembling our pads onto our bodies and started throwing the ball around to get warmed up. After about another half our after we were ready to play the faceoff started and so did the rain. As soon as the whistle blew to start the game it started pouring.
Lacrosse games do not stop for rain so we continued playing, wiping the water out of our eyes to continue the fight. When it rains on turf though, it makes it very slippery. When people were pushed over or slammed out of the way they did not just hit the ground they slid across it pushing water as they went. I remember getting slammed onto the ground loads of times and nearly sliding off the field just from the amount of water. Even though we did not win the game that day and all of us walked off the field drenched and bruised, it is still a good memory for me. I still love lacrosse and miss it very much.
He opens the door and he follows me with an umbrella. The teardrops from the clouds hit the ground at a high speed causing sounds, which were like rocks or balls being thrown on a roof. He holds my hand and we simply hop over puddles; however, my feet become drenched and ultimately feel like prunes. Even though I whine, I laugh and feel like a child dancing in the rain as I walk to my car with him. The water hits my face, hair, hands, and glasses as I struggle to unlock my door. He just laughs at me and finally the door unlocks and I go to jump into my car. He tells me to give him a hug. I whine a little, go back under the umbrella, and hug him. He smiles and says, "Wait! Let's kiss in the rain!" I laugh and call him dumb. He pulls the umbrella towards the ground, away from the sky. The cold and almost sticky water hits our face. I feel fresh and new. We kiss.
ReplyDeleteIn all honesty, I'm not too sure as to why girls love kissing in the rain. It doesn't make anything more romantic; instead, it's a bit weird. It's not the rain, it's the person you share that moment with which makes it special. It must be silly, but the rain reminds me of that kiss. The rain reminds me of him.
At first we were disappointed that the annual Columbus Day soccer tournament was cancelled due to torrential downpours; however, my best friend and I quickly changed our song. It was a fairly warm Saturday for October so we decided that she and I should go to the park across from my street where the tournament was to be held and play in the rain. We were in 7th grade, that awkward age where you want to do childish things, but simultaneously wish to be treated as an adult, but we did not care. dressed in practice clothes and ran over to our beloved Rec Field. Rachel and I started by attempting to play 1 – on – 1 soccer, but quickly realized that we were spending more time digging the ball out of the mud than we were actually playing. Rachel went to collect the ball for the final time and fell face-first in the mud. At that point, we completely gave up on staying clean and being civilized. We began throwing mud at each other and slip-and-sliding into it. We formed contests of who could slide the furthest and who could run the farthest without falling. She slid the furthest, but I ran farther. Regardless, we both had the time of our lives.
ReplyDeleteEventually Rachel and I ran out of breath and laid flat on our backs in the mud. To us it was the Rec Field became the fanciest health spa in the world and the mud puddles, the most luxurious bud baths. We laid and talked in ridiculous British accents with our pinkies out pretending to drink tea at the spa. Eventually, we decided that the pitter-patter of the rain was not soothing enough and that we should softly sing. As only 7th graders do, the soft volume quickly grew into screaming the lyrics at the top of our lungs. As the music began to grow, we decided that we should put on a concert. Her and I climbed the bleachers and sang from the top rung the best of 2007: Kelly Clarkson. We sang out hearts out to the likes of “Breakaway”, “Since You’ve Been Gone” and “Behind These Hazel Eyes.”
We must have been gone for hours, because it eventually grew dark and Rachel and I decided to head back to my house. We had to stop at the corner to let a car go. Of course, it was the cutest guy from the 8th grade. We were mortified for an instant while he drove by with his parents, but we quickly started laughing. We laughed so hard that we doubled over and ended up sitting in the mud again. When we knocked on the door, my mom quickly got an umbrella and showed us over to the hose to rinse ourselves. She was very mad at us because we were gone so long, but seemed to find the amount of mud that we brought home more amusing. She laughed and laughed and laughed. She took a picture of Rachel and I that eventually went on the refrigerator to remind everyone of our best day in the rain.
I am four. My feet, clad in Mary Janes, hit the puddles and the mushy grass with thick thuds. I'm dressed in black. It is my grandmother's funeral.
ReplyDeleteI didn't know what breasts were at the time, or that they could contract cancer that would ultimately kill the most important person in my life. A busty, outspoken woman, my grandmother helped raise me until one day, in remission, she just died.
So the rain was fitting for such a day, the day we put her fire-charred remains into a black pit in the sodden earth. My whole family attended, even people I didn't know at the time. Plenty of people from the borough were there as well, people who loved her for everything she was. I held my mother's hand beneath the umbrella as we walked to the graveyard, tiny beside the small church I had known my whole life as a place of joy, a place of women in fancy dresses and hats and singing and really great food.
My Aunt Molly sang at the service. Her voice radiated off the stained glass windows and echoed with the thunder. My Uncle Stan attempted to coax a smile to my lips by pointing out a lone, brown rabbit cowering behind a tombstone. All was well until all of us, all the mourners of Irene, stood around her final resting place and I burst into hysterics. I fell into the mud, coating my dress in the rain's slop. My father threw me over his shoulder, removing me from the crowd. It wouldn't be until years later that I would learn that I was the catalyst for tears. Everyone was holding it in, but the second I, Irene's "pride and joy" fell to pieces, the whole word collapsed in for everyone. So as I was getting my face dabbed with toilet paper in the bowels of the sanctuary, the funeral procession cried as well, all beneath the rain.
I hold nothing against the rain. I love it to this day. Something about it calms me, gives me peace, allows me to think and delve into myself in ways the sunshine can't. But I don't know, for some reason when I think of it, all I can picture is that stupid rabbit and the hole my favorite person was being put into.
I think everyone remembers playing in the rain as a child. On warm summer nights there are few things we would have rather done. Running around and splashing about in the water was just plain fun. Growing up in my household, this love was even more extreme. We were rarely granted permission to be outside when it was raining, and so there was truly something special about the concept of playing in the rain. In one sense, it is the exact same thing as normal play (other than the moderately important fact that it was raining). But it was more than that to my brothers and me. The rain didn’t just make everything wet. It made everything we did fun. I don’t know how it did this; it just did.
ReplyDeleteIn my driveway, the water always pooled in one corner. When it rained especially hard, there would be upwards of three inches down there. One such afternoon, when the rain had been coming down intensely, my brothers and I received permission to play outside. The first image I remember is looking down at my feet. They were under a few inches of water in the corner of my driveway. The grass along the edge wiggled through the fluid and in between my toes. The cool water felt so different from the warm air. There was a distinct smell in the air, probably from the worms that were all over the ground. I looked up again. My younger brother was performing his rendition of Singing in the Rain (it included only about five words, repeated again and again). My father had his video camera out, filming the show. My brother splashed in the puddles and danced about, somehow managing to also remember all the words to his song. It seemed like he was going to complete a perfect run of the show when all of the sudden he stopped, pulled down his pants, and started peeing. The yellow liquid washed down onto the driveway, joining the rest of the water from the rain. A few moments later, the song resumed as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened. He went back to jumping and splashing. My parents laughed and yelled “Tommy! What did we tell you about going to the bathroom outside?!” I didn’t laugh. It didn’t seem like it was too big of a deal. And there may exist a tape, buried in the depths of my basement, which shows this whole transaction. What a nice piece of blackmail that would be against my brother. I’m sure his girlfriend would love to see it.
There’s still something about the phrase “playing in the rain” and even “playing outside.” Something is triggered whenever I hear those words. The words themselves have a warm feeling; they make me think about carefree childhood memories. In some cases, we were very carefree. Playing outside involves a group of friends, family, and good time. Something about being acquainted with the natural world around you ties it all together. I personally think that the advice is to live life in a carefree manner, without unnecessary stresses.
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ReplyDeleteTypically, at the end of the day on Friday, after a long week of
ReplyDeleteschoolwork, I would go out to Happy Hour with a few of my friends. We
would forget our troubles of the week and drown our sorrows in
margaritas. When it was time to leave I looked outside and immediately
regretted coming. It was pouring and there was only one option:
Treading through the storm. I put on my raincoat thinking it would at
least be helpful after remembering I didn’t have an umbrella. My two
friends and I stood under the canopy for a moment as we sighed before
heading out. It was cold that day; you could see the faintest cloud of
your breath. The typical crisp fall air was almost unrecognizable as
the rain took it down the drain along with the rest of it. I ended up
stepping in puddle after puddle so much so that I wondered if I should
even bother continuing to wear my flats. They were clinging to my
feet, the fabric drenched from the rain. We walked onwards for blocks
until the side of my flats started rubbing uncomfortable against my
feet. With every step I could almost hear my pinky toe cry out in pain
but there was no stopping. It rained even harder as we approached 30th
st. station. “Almost home” I thought, gazing into the distance,
immersed in the thoughts of a warm shower. Those thoughts quickly
disappeared as I stepped into yet another puddle this time coming up
to my ankle. My jeans, along with everything else, clung to my body.
My hair, even with my hood up, began to get wet and was soon soaked
like the rest of me. After several more puddles I finally made it home
in one piece.
I love the rain because the rain cannot touch me. It smells like rain and nature, but I am not of it. I am inside, and my toes are cold only because I'm barefoot on a cold tile floor. (My mother would reprimand me for not putting on slippers, but she's not home, and it doesn't matter.) It's summer, and these summer storms keep me glued to the window, watching the drops fall.
ReplyDeleteThey're not really drops at this point. It's like a long slash, a stroke of a pencil that exists in one moment suspended in space but not in the next. I try to follow the path of individual droplets with my eyes, but they're too fast. It's impossible. Upon the window pane, it's less chaotic chaos. Little droplets mold together to form bigger droplets until they merge and form a rivulet, and then the rivulet joins with more rivulets until it's a stream, a whole stream running vertical down the window. The rivulets rarely forge their own paths; instead, they choose to follow the path of the ones before them. It's got to do with cohesion or adhesion or whatever, but whatever the technical term is, I don't care, because whenever a rivulet doesn't adhese or cohese (or whatever the technical term is), it's a big deal and it's interesting and scientific words are the last thing on my mind. Because ‘where are they going to go, all on its own without a path, ooh?’ is far more important.
And it's stupid to be watching the rain, and analyzing which way they rivulets might flow, because there are so many more things -- productive things -- that I might be doing. And I'm not doing them. Mom would call that 'lazy.' She would say that I am ‘bored.’ I would probably agree.
My neck starts to ache because I'm sitting on the couch and leaning on the back rest and my eyes are over-focused so that when I look away, the world is fuzzy for a long second until near-sightedness retreats. I crack my neck. (Funny how it's gross to hear someone else crack their neck, but when you crack your own, it's not so bad.) And then I go back to watching the rain. Above me, the patter of hard, heavy drops is loud and thrums together in a cacophony. If I could describe the sound using my keyboard, I would type it as 'asdfghjkl.' There are no individual sounds, just a symphony.
Tomorrow I have work at Bed Bath and Beyond, where I’ll raise my brow at ridiculous requests and angry customers. Tomorrow, they’ll have me (standing at five-foot-two and a half) and my coworker Maria (standing at four-foot-nine) climb twenty-foot ladders to top stock fifty pound items. But today it is raining, and I am bored with nothing to do (besides productive things, and the summer is not for productive things), and my neck is aching, and the roof sounds like it’s going to cave at any moment. Tomorrow doesn’t matter. Not today.
I hope the storm doesn’t stop.
"Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass, it's about learning to dance in the rain"
ReplyDeleteThis is one of my favorite quotes of all time because I LOVE to just enjoy the rain, why run under shelter if it starts pouring on you? Stand right where you are and enjoy the rain fall. To me, its very relaxing and peaceful, a great way to clear your head. The sounds of rain are very soothing for me and now and then I enjoy falling asleep to the sound.
I have so many memory's from getting caught in the rain, playing in the rain, and even being kissed in the rain. But one memory that sticks out most was one new years day when it was a gorgeous day out, not too cold and pouring rain. Now dont get me wrong, it should have been snowing, but who knows these days, mother nature doesn't know what she's doing anymore. But anyway, two of my friends who stayed over from the night before, me and my sister all went out and played in the rain as a way to celebrate the new year. We were outside, soaking wet, playing in the rain and just having a great time. We did cartwheels on the grass, ran around in the back yard, and danced our hearts out. We didn't even need music to dance either, the sounds of the rain hitting the pavement made the most beautiful sounds that we started dancing along. Feeling the rain hitting my face as I danced around was a great feeling, it sent a whole rush through my body that made me feel like I was on top of the world. Rain can do wonders! I have to say it was the greatest way to start off a good year.
I hate rainy days. Not because of the rain itself, but because of how it makes me feel. Lonely, and as if I’m on the outside of a glass window looking in. And of course this is the day that my mother asks me to wait for her in a nearby café.
ReplyDeleteI sit on one of the uncomfortable chairs, by a table next to the window. I can hear the rain steadily plinking against the cold glass, not ending anytime soon, and I can see the people outside rushing to get home, or at least, somewhere for a temporary sanctuary.
A tired-looking old woman comes in with a child in tow. Just watching them trudge through the door makes me feel exhausted. I’m staring at my cell phone, not really lost in thought, but not really present in reality.
Rain, for me, means a time for reflection, a time for evaluation. Almost always, rain brings bad memories to surface, and I have to fight hard not to get swept away by them.
The woman from earlier, I assume she’s the grandmother of the little girl, has set her three bulky bags down at the table adjacent to mine. The girl climbs up onto her chair eagerly, holding onto a juice box, all the while chattering rapidly in the way that only children can even when no one is paying any attention to them.
The grandmother is speaking on her cell-phone, and even she has more energy than I do. She’s laughing and smiling, and I overhear her talking about the rain. She says she has just picked up the little girl from school, and in another ten minutes she has to leave so that she can pick up another child from a different school. Then she has to get on the subway with all her bags, and her grandchildren, to get back home. After that, there’s chores to be done, and dinner to be cooked.
She says all this with a cheerful grin on her face.
I don’t understand, and I don’t want to. I just can’t wait for the rain to end.
“The rain in New Orleans forgot to end, but the mouths of the people are still dry.”
ReplyDeleteThese lyrics by one of my favorite songwriters, Joshua Radin, were prevalent in my mind during the week I volunteered in the French Quarter of New Orleans this past July. Our caravan arrived in the rain, our three ten-passenger vans and pickup truck, and the transition from the vehicles into the church that was hosting us was chaotic and wet. We were excited to see that we would be staying just a block from the infamous Bourbon Street, in the heart of New Orleans culture, the people, the voodoo, the booze. Sure, we were there to help, but it didn’t mean we couldn’t see what the city was known for, its sinful pleasure that was a popular contributor to the homelessness and substance abuse we wanted to end.
Throughout the week I don’t believe there was one day when it didn’t rain, only to become conversely hot and beautiful in a matter of minutes. We never knew what to expect from the unfamiliar southern weather, so each day we’d embark with ponchos and hoodies, as well as sunglasses and professional-looking Gatorade bottles. We painted classrooms for underfunded public schools, where the teachers were gracious and appreciative. We repainted shutters for a local rehabilitation center. We cooked and served a meal at one of their largest food pantries. We pulled weeds and stacked hundreds of cases of water bottles for that same center. All the while, though, the clouds loomed overhead.
The weather there was nothing like what we were used to. Pennsylvanian summers are generally hot and dry, whereas New Orleans summers are sweltering and moister than any of us had fathomed. We now understood what it meant to be occupying marshlands. Cockroaches the sizes of our thumbs were everywhere, either scuttling up and down the beautiful walls of the French Quarter, or squished and oozing on its cobblestone streets.
The rain, the inconsistent rain, was a constant agitator. It drove us inside and left us standing around with nothing to do and nobody to help at times, and this frustrated us. We were here to work, so why couldn’t the weather let us? It hindered us from exploring the new culture of this foreign city, and it rained down upon the homeless we were giving food and sharing stories with on more than one occasion. It left us wet and disgruntled, even more uncomfortable than we had been in the sticky hot.
On our last day we drove ninety minutes to Mississippi so that we could swim in the Gulf of Mexico. It had, of course, rained that day, hard, and while the younger children were excited and focused only on the prospect of a good swim, those of us who were less easily amused were still aggravated by the rain’s interruption. We arrived at the Gulf at sunset, and all around us was quiet and still. Used to the populated and tacky shores of New Jersey, the empty and small beach between our vans and the ocean was foreign and soft beneath our feet. We prepared for the freezing cold Atlantic that we were used to and were pleasantly surprised when we stepped in and the water was warm as bathwater. We proceeded to run the two hundred or so yards it took to get to our height in the water. We spent about two hours in the Gulf of Mexico, but I could have stayed there forever. The feeling of being there, watching the sun set and turn the sky mixtures of purple and pink that I had never before naturally witnessed, was that of utter happiness, something that is rare and not easy to achieve. As we swam and played and floated in sheer bliss, it began to rain. We welcomed the cool drops on our faces, grinning.
During my teenage years when I had substantial amounts of free time, I usually spent this time playing football. Although playing football was fun on its own, adding the elements of rain and mud made it even more exuberating. Unlike the majority of people who cower in fear when it starts to rain, I couldn’t wait to go outside. Playing football in the rain was fun because the muddy ground provided an event for tumbling, slipping and falling down. All in which contributed to the amount of amusement I had. To best describe it, it is similar to ice skating with socks. It also made me feel like I was seven years old again without the slightest care in the world for how sanitary my clothes were.
ReplyDeleteI recall one night after school, my friends and I played football on a rainy night at the local park. What made this memory so vivid is that I had a relatively new pair of shoes and a white t-shirt that day. I don’t think any words in the dictionary can describe how fast white can turn brown. The game lasted about an hour and ended early because the rain was started to pour down too rapidly. At the end of it, everyone was covered from the head down with water and brown dirt. Our clothes and shoes were ruined but we didn’t care, the only thought that was on our minds were the reactions of our parents.
The angry look on my mom’s face when I walked into the house was frightening, a lot more frightening than public speaking (which is hard to surpass). She spent the next two days lecturing me on how I could’ve gotten sick or hurt and explaining to me what a stupid idea it was.
To anyone that hasn’t played football in the rain and mud, I suggest everyone to give it a try, it may not be the most sensible activity to do but I guarantee you’ll have fun.
The summer of ’07 was filled with clear skies, sunny days, and wonderful weather. It is safe to say that this statement held true in the United States, however, on the opposite end of the globe there is a whole different story waiting to be told.
ReplyDeleteDuring the summer, before my first year of high school, my mother decided that going to her native country for a nice vacation would be quite suited. Before I knew it I was sitting next to her on a plane heading to Hazrat Shahjala International Airport in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Upon arrival I noticed that it was very gloomy and dark outside. I concluded that it must have been late at night. However, to my surprise, the man at the information desk informed me that it was only midafternoon and that the country is expecting severe thunderstorms for the next few days.
As rainy days and nights passed my family and I have traveled from the country’s capital city to the village where my parents grew up. Finally, the country caught its first break with four consecutive days of clear skies. This allowed me to explore the village where my parents were raised, as well as, learn how to play a popular Bangladeshi sport known as cricket. Sadly, the glory did not last long.
Once again the rain began to rapidly pour causing massive floods and taking away from what was supposed to be a “nice family vacation.” Worst part was that my mother kept stalling our trip to the city of Chittagong in order to help my cousin prepare for her wedding. However, with just two days left until the big wedding day, it was decided that the rain could not be an obstacle any longer. Therefore, my uncle rented us a micro (minivan) and a driver and we began our journey to Chittagong. Less than five minutes went by before I heard the driver utter some words of profanity. I soon realized that the micro was stuck in the mud of the dirt road. All I could think of was how thankful I was that the United States actually had durable roads made out of asphalt. After continuously pressing down on his pedal the driver decided that the only way out was if my uncle and I got out and pushed. So there we were, in the pouring rain pushing a car out of the muddy path while getting mud kicked back at us.
Finally, after six hours of sitting wet and muddy in a minivan we arrived at my cousin’s house. I began to feel very nauseated and sick and, therefore, decided to get changed and go right to bed. Of course, when I woke up the next morning I barely had the strength to get out of bed. Soaking in the rain and being wet for six hours the previous day has gotten me sick. Even on my cousin’s wedding day I laid there sick in a bed while my family was out enjoying the festivities. Eventually, after five long days of rest my body healed just in time for the flight back to John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City. However, I have learned that if I plan on visiting Bangladesh again I must invest in a poncho and rain boots beforehand.
One of my most memorable experiences I had in the rain occurred about eighteen months ago. It was short lived, but something I'll always remember. I had just gotten my drivers license and was heading home from my girlfriends house around midnight on a rainy Saturday night. It was pouring but I still decided to be the typical teenager in a sports car driving like a maniac. As I came off the ramp heading onto route 42, my car spun around completely two times and I hit the divider on the other side of the highway. Two cars swerved between me and managed to make it through without colliding. It was a miracle because I could have easily been killed. Miraculously enough, there was absolutely no damage to my car. I got out and stood outside in the pouring rain and stood in complete shock. It was the closest near death experience I've ever had and its something I'll always remember. Whenever its pouring rain, I always remember that rainy Saturday night. To this day, I've never told my family because I don't like to have people worrying about me. Since then, I've learned my lesson about how to behave on the road.
ReplyDelete“Think someone could dodge the drops?” I asked as I felt the first few wet drips hit my neck. He turned to face me with a blank stare, as if I pulled him off a tree from some distant planet. A toothy smile was his initial response and I answered back with my automatic shy grin. “Yeah.” He moved awkwardly zigzagging through the maze of water. For my first few drops, I thought they had missed me. But the rain didn’t play fair and increased its H2O army. As a sign of defeat, I tilted my head to the charcoal sky and let the weather consume me. After wiping my eyes dry, he zigzagged into me with a triumphant gleam, for he had just avoided another plop of wet. He stopped, the rain beat down, I reached for his hand. We ran. Our laugher was the melody to the strong beat of water. The long muddy driveway was endless, just us and dirt. No pothole puddle was undisturbed by our presence, typhoons of chocolate milk colored water tipped over their sides. With our soaked sneaker feet we’d bound to the next one, unrelenting. We tried to sneak by the raindrops again but this time together. It failed. He was disappointed. I didn’t like it. I tried to laugh it off, but after that he was quiet, maybe he returned to that tree I pulled him from. I haven’t seen the boy in many years, but when it rains I always try and dodge at least one drop for him.
ReplyDeleteI am not usually a fan of rain. Most likely due to the fact that I have either been in class or on co-op for the past four years and any rain either causes me to get stuck in traffic on my way to work or get drenched while walking to class or back home from campus. If it rains on a weekend when I have free time then it is a damper on the day. Needless to say, I am not the biggest fan of rain. I can recall one occasion in Philadelphia where I witnessed one of rains biggest fans on a warm Spring day. I was driving home and hit a red light close to Drexel's campus. While I was waiting for the light to turn green, I noticed a girl on the corner of the sidewalk to my right who was dancing in the rain with a hoola-hoop. It almost seemed like her and the hoola-hoop where gracefully dancing together. I was mesmerized and for some reason couldn't look away. I don't recall her being attractive, she was wearing some wild colors and was average sized. What really blew me away with the whole performance was how into she was, like an urban ballerina striving for perfection. I'm not sure if she was some type of rain gypsy from a foreign land or under the influence of some type of substance, but I have never seen someone so passionate about the rain on a warm Spring day. I finally noticed a car behind me and I looked up to see the green light and started to pull away, but when I looked into my rear view mirror, the car behind me was not moving. I suspect the victim behind me was also mesmerized by the rain dancer.
ReplyDeleteMy love-hate relationship with rain stems from my ability to be indoors or outdoors and the temperature of the rain. One memory that sticks out to me is playing sports games in the rain.
ReplyDeleteFreshmen year in girls lacrosse always played on Saturday mornings. I didn't really mind getting up on Saturdays because I did well in lacrosse, and i carpooled with three of my good friends. This particular game was on a very cold Saturday morning. Cold with heavy clouds waiting to poor at any moment. It didn't matter if it rained, games rarely were canceled.
I got out of the car and grabbed my stick and my bag. We sprinted to our side of the field wanting to take laps because that was the only way to raise our body heat. Every year around this time my hands would numb when I held my stick. My face was red from the cold wind and I could barely see out of my goggles and through the rain. As the rain picked up so did the mud that stuck to my cleats and made the ground slippery. Every year this happened and every time I wondered why I partook in outdoor sports.
The game started and it was getting really hard to see. My goggles were creating icicles and most of my body went numb. I was playing offense and we were dominating the game. On their defense, their left back had a long brown pony tail and now she had possession. I ran across her path in hopes to intercept her catch but instead the ball nailed my upper left forehead. I fell down in the mud, then sat out for a couple minutes. I wanted to go back in as soon as i could, and sure enough when i did, i was hit in my upper right forehead.
On the drive home i started to notice the swelling. I had hoped it wouldn't get worse, but it did. I ended up with two horn-like bruises jutting out from either side of my forehead. I'll blame it on the rain.
Last March I believe it was, before me and my current girlfriend, Lisa, were officially dating, I convinced her to take a trip to Philadelphia with me. Her parents weren't used to her being away so she could only join me for the weekend. I wanted to make her my girlfriend so bad. We we're great together, its just that she had recently broken up with her ex, and it wasn't pretty. Nonetheless, I had been takin her out for a while; first a Hellogoodbye concert at the local venue, a few dinners, and lots of coffee. We had our first kiss just about at the stroke of midnight on Valentines Day in the packing lot of a Quick Check where we had just bought some late night coffees. For the forst time now I could bring her over to my world. I was finally able to show her Philadelphia, the city I call home, and Drexel, the places I study, the places I eat, and where I go to get away from everything to just think. The latter is where I took her on this special day.
ReplyDeleteWe had already spent the day walking throughout the city, had lunch, had dinner, and so I decided I was going to take her to the Schuylkill to se the view. As we started walking over it began raining, not super hard, but enough that you don't want to risk a long walk back. Instead of going to the river, I decided to take her to my favorite hiding place; where I can go to hide away from life, from stress, responsibility, homework, etc. It also happened to have a balcony overhead which made it a perfect spot to go to avoid the surprise rain storm. I took her to the iSchool garden. There under the balcony in that beautiful garden it a small table perfect for looking out over this small patch of green. Perfect for keeping the city at bay for a short while.
There we sat, we cuddled, we chatted, and kissed in this small garden, under the balcony, surrounded by rain. We spend hours there waiting for the rain to stop; not that we minded being stuck there together. It was in that moment that I knew i needed to make her my girlfriend. It just felt right when I was with her, and just looking at the way she looked at me I could see she felt the same way. I knew she was waiting for me to ask her, I just saw it in her eyes; but I wasn't positive.
The rain did not yet stop, but it seemed to have let up just the slightest bit so we decided to make a run for it towards my dorm. Once we were in the rain however we realized that it wasn't raining as hard as it had originally seemed. We could have went back at any time, yet neither of us regretted staying. I never did ask her that night. It wasn't until we got back home from our trip that I asked her. As you may have guessed she said yes, and we have been happily together ever since.
I've had a love hate relationship with rain. It's beautiful to watch, but awful to be in, it always ruins my hair. There are rules to being in the rain. One should be equipped with certain things. You must have a rain jacket or an umbrella rain boots come highly recommended. Rain is harmless but we are taught to be careful. One day after school, it was raining, that kind of rain that floods streets, like beaded curtains in front of your face. It was raining so hard that day that they let us out of school an hour early. As my friends and I waited for the bus I had a brilliant idea. I was ready to take on the rain, today was the day I was going to be free. I told everyone that we should play in the rain when we got home. So we took our separate buses home and it was settled that we'd meet up and play in the rain. It would be magic and spontaneous the perfect youthful experience. Beyond the cliché it was truly freedom, but before freedom there was homework waiting for me when I got home. Annie had chorus practice, but after that we were going to play in the rain. Max had play practice but when that was over we were going to play in the rain, definitely. Who knows what Teddy had to do, I don't even remember anymore, I do remember that we never played in the rain. Whether it be obligation or comfort, possibly the convenience of modern technology keep us from reveling in simplicity. You should never give up and opportunity to play in the rain, there is nothing wrong with a little water.
ReplyDeleteI've don't really have any special experiences with rain, since I'm usually inside when it's raining. The only thing I really remember with any detail is when my family and I were traveling to North Carolina to visit my cousins and a storm hit while we were on the highway. The storm literally came out of no where. I'm pretty sure it wasn't in the forecast or anything. Anyway, I was asleep for about half of it until it started thundering. I know that the thunder was extremely loud, because I cans sleep through almost anything. I woke up to the most intense storm I have EVER been in. It was pouring like crazy. The sound of the rain drops hitting the car was louder than the radio, which eventually stopped playing all together because of interference I guess. It was actually kind of scary. I looked at the windows and could not see a thing it was raining so hard. The windshield wipers barely helped. The truck in front of us wasn't helping, kicking up all that extra water. It was really bad. The whole time I was thinking, "Oh my God, we're gonna crash and die". Thankfully the storm passed as quickly as it came and then the sun came out, which I thought was so random. But that's how storms are during hurricane season.
ReplyDeleteLiving near a river, rain has always affected the landscape around me. The river still is my
ReplyDeletefavorite place to go swimming however the river tends not to be too deep, that is until it rain which will
raise the level of the river and increase the current making the day after a large rain storm the best time
to go swimming. So I have numerous memories that in some way involved the rain but the most notable
one was when the hurricane hit the east coast last summer (2011).
The day after the storm hit was still a very miscible day, damp, windy, and constant light
showers. Being curious of what kind of damage the storm brought I ventured out exploring the houses
that were adjacent to the river about two hundred feet away. When I got there however I realized the
seriousness of this storm. Fourteen families were evacuated from their houses, and with good reason.
Tree had fallen everywhere, many blocking the road or fallen in the yards, but a handful fell on houses
and one on a car, the houses seemed fine but the car had broken mirrors, glass, and dents and look
as if someone took an baseball bat to it. Telephone wires were down and there was no power for the
development. Almost every fence was swept downstream, and the few that stood were going to give at
any time or were already lifted but caught on other things. Car flooded and cover with debris from the
former yard. Entire yards and properties were sunken waist deep in water and the farther down I went
the high the water got and the worst the damage was. The river starched fifty feet outward from its
usual spot, enough to cause small property damage to the houses on the other side of the road.
At the last few houses were a group of five people how were talking and surveying the damage
as well. They were each pointing out to small thing that had happened that they could not believe.
One of them led us to their house that was located on a bend of the river and received the worst
damage. The ground level was knee high in water. Miscellaneous picture, books, bowls, and other small
object floated in the water. All the furniture was drenched in water and would most likely have to be
replaces. I would have gone to the basement had the entire thing not been flooded. All the damage and
irreplaceable thing lost, I could not imagine.
After I left the house I went to the area were me and my friends normally swam, a spot the at
max was six feet deep was now over eleven feet, the huge eight foot boulder that I loved to climb was
now where to be seen, cover by the water. I kept my distance as the water was creating white rapids
and one slip and who know what would have happened to me. So I started to explore the woods around
the river only to find it looked like a swamp, a mud-water, destroyed swamp. I did not get father then a
few tree though for the dirt had turned to mud and anything that stepped in it sunk. It was like trying to
pull one foot out of a foot of wet compacted sand, it was so hard to break free that my foot came out of
my shoe and I lost it, but they were an old pair.
To think that my house had no damage but houses two hundred feet away still make me think
what if it were worst or that was my family’s house.
I always liked rain until I moved to Philly. I don't mind it when I'm sleeping in because it has a very calming effect. However, living in the city is not enjoyable with difficult weather conditions. For those who have cars it is probably not as difficult, but as a person who rides their bike for transportation, rain kind of sucks. Nevertheless, any time that there is any type of inclement weather, the city becomes almost impossible to maneuver.
ReplyDeleteOne memory that stands out in particular was the night of the hurricane. I spent that time in the design labs in Nesbitt with a few other people. We all stocked up on food and worked on our finals in the labs because, had we not, they would not have been finished. It was kind of bad because we didn't even treat it like a real hurricane. We sat at the computers that were near the windows. We actually went out side once or twice because we needed something from our dorms across the street.
Oddly enough, the actual weather didn't even feel like a real hurricane other than the fact that there was a lot of rain. The rain was so bad that it actually ended up flooding the 1st floor near the windows but it didn't feel any different from any other bad rainstorm I had been through before. The flooding probably the worst of the damage I saw, although I heard stories about trees and power lines. It wasn't the experience we were expecting but it was an interesting one.
So far in my life I had never had a bad experience with rain. That all changed one Friday night senior year when I was headed home from wrestling practice in early December. I had just recently gotten my license and was a relatively inexperienced driver, only having been able to drive for around two months. It was around 6:30 pm and it was raining heavily as i left my high school and headed to my car. I started the drive home and everything was normal. I was pulling off of the Hartford rd and as i turned my car slid into the wrong lane with oncoming traffic approaching rapidly. When that happened I was incredibly scared and didn't know what was going to happen. Luckily my car slid just far enough so that the oncoming cars wouldn't hit me. I then got out of the car as the traffic passed and just looked up at the rain thinking that I could of been seriously injured or even worse. I stood in the rain for around five minutes and then drove home. That experience will remain with me for a while and every time it rains I think of that night and what could have happened.
ReplyDeleteHave you ever stood outside in a rainstorm and just danced? It presents to you a feeling of freedom and looseness; a feeling you can not get from anywhere else. When I was in the eighth grade, my sister and a bunch of our friends scheduled a movie day. However because of the four-day rainstorm my town was having, all the nearby cinemas were flooded and on top of that our electricity went out. This left a bunch of teenagers without the Internet or the television to entertain us for a couple hours. As the weather began to get treacherous, my sister had the ‘bright’ idea to open the door for fresh air. The drops of water hit the asphalt on my driveway. The sound of the rain made my mind lax and calm. All of us went outside without raincoats and rain boots. It was the month of June so the rain was still warm and you can see the water steam off of the driveway. We all went outside and ran all around the lawn and the driveway I never felt so free in my life. Our hair and clothes were soaked, but that was the least of our concerns. A few of us faced our mouth towards the sky and started to sing the Barney song, ‘ if all the raindrops were lemon drops and gumdrops, Oh what a rain that would be…’ We felt like kids again while running around in circles and making up silly games. The rain freed us from all worries and concerns- I don’t think we realized that it was 8’o clock by the time we got tired. I can safely say that rain rejuvenated us and literally washed away all our worries.
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DeleteAs cliche as it is, I had my first kiss in the rain. I remember the summers when we used to play flashlight tag with all the other kids in the neighborhood. We so rarely actually played flashlight tag that we earned the reputation as those pesky kids that ding-dong ditched every house from afternoon to midnight. Besides escaping our parents watchful eyes, these flashlight tag escapades proved the most opportune time to flirt with the current apple of our eye. At the time, my best friend and I had just landed ourselves our first girlfriends. It wasn't long before they were joining us in our games of flashlight tag. Naturally, all the couples ended up getting separated and the game sort of fell apart. I remember being so nervous as we were "hiding" from everyone else but thinking that I had to make a move that night. One of my buddies had already gotten his first kiss and my friend and I were determined to be next. Eventually I built up enough courage to make a move and that is my most memorable experience in the rain.
ReplyDeleteI was in Japan during the summer of 2006. While on a homestay with another student we were outside having a barbaque in the middle of a farm. I wasn't very fond of the other student but I was stuck with him so I had to make the best out of it. Were grilling and having a good time until this kid picks his head up, sniffs the air, and says "It's going to rain". I'm like yea right (BS). Thinking this kid is so weird anyway I'll just forget it and go on with conversation. Needless to say, it rains. And it rains. And it rained all night that night. Gotta give the kid credit, he has the nose of a god.
ReplyDeleteRain for me has always had a very powerful and amiable effect on me. Everything about rain is tantalizing, from the petrichor to the sound and sensations. It is more like an assault towards all my senses and I find it really pleasurable. Since I lived in a very hot country where temperatures used to exceed 110 F, rain was something I really looked forward to. The monsoon season was the biggest relief against all the heat that I suffered for more than three months. Everything around the monsoon season was perfect. The weather cooled down, we could have unlimited fried food, playing soccer was an occasion as we could just get dirty and muddy.
ReplyDeleteOne of the most pleasant memories I have had regarding rain would be the party my friends and me hosted after we all graduated from high school back in India. It took place in an open field and none of us really expected rain as the weather forecast said it would be clear night. However, as people started coming in and started mingling the clouds started forming and one could just sense that it is going to rain soon. I was really scared that the whole thing is going to be dud and as predicted it started raining copiously. However, people kept coming and took the rain in their stride. The crowd was really enjoying the whole thing, the music kept playing, caterers kept serving food and drinks were flowing. The party was an immense success and I thought the rain would be damper on the event but more than anything else it added the extra piquancy to it. I really enjoyed my experience with rain that day. I can only hope that I always have a positive relationship with rain.
A few days before we would be heading off to a week of summer camp together, my best friend Brandi and I went to Dorney Park for the evening. Dorney Park is the nearby amusement park that can always make a hot summer evening more enjoyable. We walk through the gates, purchase our tickets, and make our way to the closest roller coaster, Talon. For the next hour or so, I sit next to my best friend on each ride, gripping the side bars, as adrenaline rushes through my body as the rides go through twists, turns, steep drops, and loopty loops. We both let out an occasional high-pitched scream, mostly to act like the typical shrieking teenage girl. To get an even better experience on the coasters where our feet dangle, we take of our shoes to feel the strong current of air hit our toes as we get whipped around the track. Brandi and I hit our favorite rides first, making our way through the park. Towards the other end of the park is the roller coaster we love most – Steel Force. Though just ups and downs the whole, the thrill of plunging almost vertically down the several hills is exhilarating, sending my heart into my throat during each drop. Brandi and I experience our adrenaline rush with huge grins across our face the entire duration of the ride. We throw our hands up for each decline, even the 200 foot drop in the beginning, and even pose for the cameras at just the right moment. After our first go on Steel Force, we are ready for another. But just then, we notice the sky turn very dark, and not because of the setting sun. Storm clouds fill the sky and soon the droplets hit our face. It seems as if the rain will soon pass and the ride attendants will tell us it is clear to get on board in a matter of minutes. The rain is light, so Brandi and I find no need to find shelter. We sit on the park bench near Steel Force, awaiting the sky to clear. The night grows darker, and so do the clouds. A bolt of lightning pierces the sky and a rumble shakes the quite patter of the rain. Brandi and I realize that they will not let anyone on the rides anytime soon, now that lightning has appeared. We leave the park bench to walk around the rest of the park. Everything is shut down, the yet other people are waiting to let the storm pass too. Most of the people gathered under pavilions to stay dry. Few were like Brandi and me – walking through the warm summer rain, enjoying the steady fall of raindrops soaking our skin and clothes too. We walked around the entire park side by side, never questioning the other if we were cold or wanted to seek a dry place. We knew how exhilarating the rain shower felt, warm and refreshing, and how defying it felt to walk through it, carefree that we were now drenched. Then, it was time to exit the park and wait for Brandi’s dad to pick us up. Since he was not there yet, we decided to lay on the sidewalk, staring up at the crying sky. It felt liberating to lay there next to my best friend, raindrops hitting our faces, laughing uncontrollably at the people swerving to avoid stepping on us. The thrill of a roller coaster sends your heart racing, adrenaline pumping through your veins, and makes your body feel alive. But the thrill of the warm raindrops quenching my skin, with my best friend next to me experiencing it as well, revitalized me more than any roller coaster could.
ReplyDeleteI have always been in love with the feeling of the rain in a dry place. Something about the overcast sky breathes through every window and my thoughts and vision crystallize.
ReplyDeleteI had already been destroying my body in the wilderness for 3 days when it came time to descend Mt. Garfield. My companions and I were enjoying the awe-inspiring view from the peak but it was getting dark and oh shit - stormclouds. On an open mountain ridge where your body is the closest object to the sky stormclouds are the guns of God aimed at your head. We started climbed off of the vista area and began to descend as the rain hit us.
The trails up and down Mt. Garfield are essentially inclined piles of smooth boulders and big rocks arranged by nature and trail maintainers as some sort of sick mockery of the convenient concept of stairs. When it is raining as hard as it was that day, little impromptu waterfalls start shooting out of nooks and crannies and the trail becomes especially dangerous. My friends were faster climbers (in this case, descenders) than me so I let them rush ahead to the shelter which the map promised to be only half a mile away.
I slowly climbed down over wet slippery rocks, being careful as not to kill myself, for what seemed like an eternity. I knew the site was supposed to be on my left, but it felt like I'd been going far longer than a half hour. On top of that, I'd been beating my legs up climbing and descending for days. After a while, I stopped and just had to sit there, thinking about what I should do. I had no flashlight, I was alone in the rain, and it was going to be dark very soon. I started eating a stick of pepperoni and crying.
Once I had lost all hope I heard the distant voice of my friend Tom, who I feel should be knighted, America-style. He was yelling my name from somewhere up the mountain. I started yelling back, realizing that I must have missed the campsite completely. When he finally came into view he was hopping on his toes down the waterfall rocks like some kind of hardcore ballet dancer.
"Way too far man! You went way too fucking far man!"
But I had already figured that out. He pulled me back up another half-mile (insult to injury) to the shelter, where we slept in sleeping bags with strangers. He had a dream that he was drowning and woke up screaming in the middle of the night. We were treated strangely in the morning.
Back in high school I used to run for the cross country team. It was awesome group of guys and we would just run all over the place. Through neighborhoods, fields, woods, up hills, mountains (sometimes it seemed that way), over dry roads, wet roads, frozen roads, and one time over a frozen lake. We would always have names for our different runs. We'd say, “let's to do the tunnel run,” which was to an old abandoned train tunnel that was pitch black and impossible to see let alone run. But my favorite run of all was to the Quarry and my favorite time that I ever ran to it was on a very, very rainy summer day.
ReplyDeleteWe all arrived at the high school and it was pouring. I mean really, really coming down. My coach had to cancel practice but being a runner himself, implied that he wouldn't mind if we ran anyways. And we did. As we ran up and out of the high school campus I remember thinking that I had never had this much fun running up that god forsaken hill. I could barely see with how hard it was raining. And I think I would have been cold had I not been running. I felt great.
We ran through our shortcut in the woods that led us down to Three Mile Run Road. Normally we would turn right and take an entrance to the Quarry more traveled but for whatever reason, we headed straight across the road into what looked like a storm water basin. The rain water was being piped under the road and down into the woods this way. We were running through a little river and we loved it. The rain beating down on our heads, the splashing of water and mud at our feet, the heavy breathing that can only be accompanied by a strenuous exercise and a strikingly good time, this was what it was all about.
We reached the clearing at the bottom of the Quarry and started the climb up to the look out at the top. It's a long way. A steep, steep hill that is a punishing run on sunny day. The rain had done anything but let up. And yet we pushed on enjoying every step until we got to the top.
A beautiful lookout that I had seen many times. A huge rock face that reminded me of something from the Canyonlands, and an amazingly blue-green lake at the bottom. I remember looking out at the huge ripples on the lake. I had never seen it this violent. It is always still and quietly blue. The wind swirled more and more water around. I watched these water tornados from up above and felt very thankful for the hydrologic cycle.
One of my favorite memories is during my senior year of high school when I played for my school’s soccer team. My memory is of when my team and I played against the top ranked team in our conference and we beat them. What makes this one of my favorite memories is that my team and I were ranked ninth in our conference when we beat that team. Also, during that game I scored my first goal for my high school team. I remember everything that happened that day fairly well.
ReplyDeleteThe day started off line any other normal day, except there were dark clouds in the sky that seemed to dampen everyone’s mood. Teacher’s seemed extra strict that day and the lunch my school was serving that day was chicken, which everyone hated. Also, I sat with some of my teammates everyday during lunch and we were usually rowdy and in good moods. However, my teammates and I were abnormally quiet due to the horrible weather and who we were supposed to be facing that day. Furthermore, not only were we quiet, but we were also hoping it would rain before our game started so that we wouldn’t have to play. Lunch went by very quick and the rest of the day went by without any problems.
The final bell rang and I meet up with my team at the locker room. We all waited patiently for our coach to walk in and to tell us if the game were to go on or not. Our coach finally walked in and told us the game will still be played. It was obvious that we were all disappointed and my coach was very upset by this. He yelled at us to sit down and listen. My coach then gave us a twenty-minute speech on how our school used to be known for our amazing sports teams and now we might be dropping into a lower conference because of how many games we were losing. He finished he speech by telling us we’re a disgrace and he didn’t care if we won or lost at that point. My coach’s speech enraged most of my teammates and most of them were about to quit the team at that point. However, myself and the two other captains of the team told our teammates to prove our coach wrong by winning today’s game. The team agreed that were going to prove our coach wrong.
After getting dressed, stretching, and warming up, the game finally began. I remember the start of the game was dreadful. We were only a few minutes into the game when it began to rain viciously. Also, one of our captains was injured during the first few minutes. I was certain that we were going to lose. However, my coach’s speech really sunk into the minds of some of my teammates and they played the best game of their lives. We held the score to 0-0 by the end of the first half. I was expecting my coach to give us some supportive words, but he was still upset and all he said were a few demeaning words. I became furious after that point and I was determined to make sure my coach would rue what he said.
When the second half began, our opponents played very aggressively. I remember the kid I was supposed to defend against. The kid was about 6’2” and was a little of the heavier side. He played very dirty and he liked to push other players around with his weight. I made sure he didn’t get the ball, and if he did, I stole it from him. When the game reached its 80th minute the score was still 0-0 and we started to realize we might have a chance at winning the game. Suddenly, all the momentum was on our side! We had about eight shots on goal, but their goalie saved all of them. The game was reaching its final minutes when we were given a corner kick. My coach sent everyone up as a last ditch effort.
My teammates and I started setting up and I remember standing more towards the opposite side of the field, just incase the ball got by everyone. My teammate then crossed the ball into the middle of the field. As the ball was in the air, I saw an open spot near the goal and the ball was heading right for that spot. I didn’t hesitate and I started sprinting. It felt like I was running so slowly because my body was so stiff from the cold. I was soaking wet, covered in mud, I couldn’t feel my fingers or toes, and my whole body ached, but I was determined to win. I finally reached the spot and leaped into the air as the ball closed in. I twisted my head to direct the ball as it hit my forehead. I couldn’t tell what happened after that because I fell to the ground and a swarm of white and orange uniformed players followed the ball. The next thing I know I hear a massive roar as my teammates turn towards me with enormous smiles. Apparently I had scored! I was ecstatic and shocked. We held the other team from scoring for the rest of the game and then it was over. We had won the game! My coach congratulated me and said he was wrong for what he had said. We didn’t make it to the playoffs that year, but beating the best team in our conference, scoring my first goal, and making my coach proud was good enough for that year to be my year.
ReplyDeleteOne of my most memorable experiences in the rain was several years ago when I was at a Boy Scout Camp for a special leadership course. I was chosen as a participant at this course to learn how to be a better leader.
ReplyDeleteAt the end of this course they sent all the patrols out to stay out in the woods for the night. This night was supposed to be a night of thinking about the past week and having fun and bonding with the other members of our patrol that we did not know before the week started.
In order to find our designated campsite for the night we were given coordinates that we plugged into a GPS. Then we started walking. It was quite a hike to the outskirts of the camp. When we found the site we designated specific areas for our tents, our cooking area, and our bear bag. We set up the tents on a wide trail on the side of a hill. We probably should have taken a longer time with the placement and construction of the tents but we were carefree and happy to be alone for the night.
We set up the bear bag next. It was hilarious trying to set up the bear bag because there were no really good trees to throw the rope over and when we finally found a tree that would work it took us about a million tries to get the rope over the branch and get the bear bag up. We each took turns trying to get it up and it took us all about three tries before it was finally complete.
Eventually we got around to starting dinner. That night we had hunter’s stew for dinner and chocolate chip cookies for dessert. We warmed the cookies over the fire to make them all gooey while we talked about the week and had a very enjoyable time.
Then the rain started. At first it was a slow drizzle and we stayed outside to wait it out. The rain started to pick up and it was soon pouring and making us soaked. We quickly packed up and went to our tents for the night.
We woke up in the morning and two of our tents had huge pools of water in them and half of our patrol’s stuff was drenched. We packed up and headed back to the main camp to finish the week. I will always remember this campout as one of my favorite times in scouting.
My two favorite scents in the world are that of rain and bonfires. When I think of them, the first memory that comes to mind is a bittersweet one which happened on one of the final nights of the best summer of my life. It was the last night that my tight-knit group of friends spent together before we left our hometown to start new lives at new schools all across the east coast.
ReplyDeleteWe had all planned to meet at our friend Nick’s place, in the deep woods of his backyard. I left my house before sundown, though the sky was dark and heavy with ominously ashen clouds. But everything also felt heavy. The wheel of my car felt heavy. I felt heavy. My stomach knotted up, as I thought of how much I would miss these people over the course of the next semester. I wasn’t just moving away from one family, but two.
I finally arrived at his place, and as I began to enter the woods behind his house, I was consumed with the scent of the bonfire smoke. The air was dense and smoky-sweet and the grass looked more lush and green than usual. When I got to the source of the smoke, I could see that all of my friends were already waiting for me, and saved me a mossy tree stump to sit on. Bon Iver was softly playing from some small speakers a few feet away from us. We sat and talked and reminisced and joked and laughed and sang and swayed. We relived a whole summer in a matter of hours. We talked about everything except the future. Nobody wanted to bring up the future. Nobody wanted to verbalize the feeling of the slight sting we felt in our hearts.
By this time, the sky was darker than anthracite, yet the glow from the fire was brilliant. By far the tallest fire I’ve ever seen. It seemed to be leaping from the scorched wood and charred newspapers. All of a sudden, the sky opened up with rain, fast and thick. One of my friends ran to bring the music back in the house so it wouldn’t get damaged, but everyone else remained seated. We wanted to stay isolated from the real world just a little longer, even if it meant to become drenched. Everything was still heavy heavy heavy. The music was gone, but a whole new soundtrack was playing. The silence and the pitter-patter of rain and the crackling of the fire were deafening. We eventually all parted ways to go home, but I’ll never forget that bittersweet feeling.
It's Raining Men! Hallelujah! It's Raining Men! Amen!
ReplyDeleteThis is lyrics from a song I always sing whenever it rains. My story involves an umbrella, glitter, and a boy.
At exactly 8:50 p.m. on a Wednesday and my practice dance class just ended. I walked out of the class that night feeling as if I was on top of the world because I was successfully able to accomplish an over the shoulder roll. Over the shoulder rolls had been one of those moves I had been hesitant and uncertain about my whole dance career. The fact that I was to continually perform over the shoulder rolls that night made me feel extremely proud of myself. I was the person that couldn’t be torn down and I felt like I could succeed in anything. As soon as I walked out of the dance room I saw the boy who came into my life. He stood by the back wall slight soaked by the pouring rain hold my closed umbrella and had a smile on his face. I walked over to him and he handed me my umbrella as we headed towards the door. He stood there watching me with the slighted grin on his face. I took it as a sign that he was happy to see me but little did I know that he had something planned. As we approached the door he held out his hand to open the door to let me out. As he opened the door, I unwrapped the umbrella strap to keep us covered from the pouring rain. The door opened and the umbrella automatically shot up and glitter poured out from the umbrella. Sparkling gold shimmers fell all around me and this boy as we stood outside in the rain. I looked up at him as he looked down at me and we both stood there smiling at each other. We were surrounded by raining glitter and raining water. Now every time it rains I smile and think of night I stood in raining glitter.
My new lyrics I now sing: It’s Raining Glitter! Hallelujah! It’s Raining Glitter! Amen!
It had been a beautiful summer day. There was hardly a cloud in the sky as we set up our tents near the Pavilion at Lake Elkhorn. After we had all finished setting our tents and putting our sleeping bags inside of them, we ate our parent packed dinners and discarded the trash. After that they split up the girls and boys into two different groups the boys would be sleeping on one side of the hill and the girls would be sleeping on the other. I said goodbye and good night to my brother and we went our separate ways. After that we were warned about black widow spiders and told to go brush our teeth in the pavilion and go to the bathroom before we went to bed.
ReplyDeleteAt that time I did not really have a sleeping bag of my own; my brother had a Bat-Man sleeping bag, but I had no sleeping bag. At that time my parents didn't really know if I would like camping or not so they figured they would hold off on getting me one. My sleeping bag for that night was a blanket folded properly to look like a sleeping bag. Mind you, everyone else in the tent had fairly waterproof sleeping bags, and of course since it was a beautiful summer day, no one thought to put the rain covers on the tents or the tarps underneath them.
After we had all been sound asleep for a while It started raining, I can't tell you how hard it was raining when it started, but when I woke up to a thunderous boom, it was pouring! I decided to go to the Bathroom before I went back to sleep because I had made a trip to the water fountain before I had gone to sleep. I put on the poncho my parents had packed me and went outside the tent (thank goodness my parents knew that even if it is a sunny day, every time my brother or I go camping, it rains). It was pitch black out except for the faint light of the moon behind the clouds and trees, and the guiding beam of the on duty counselor’s flashlight.
Since we were all children under the age of ten, they had to have a counselor on duty at all times in case we got scared, homesick, or simply needed to use the rest room and couldn't remember where it was. I ran towards the counselor as the rain poured down and asked where the bathroom was and he kindly directed me to it and made sure I got back to my tent okay.
Once I got back to my tent zipped up the flap so the rain wouldn't get in, took off my poncho, and went back to sleep. When we woke up in the morning the rain had stopped and it was a fairly gloomy looking day. Oh, and on other thing the tent as well as my sleeping bag were quite damp. My tent mates decided the only explanation is that I had somehow massively wet the bed while sleeping because my "sleeping bag" was the only one that was really wet. In reality, the reasoning for this was that they all had water resistant sleeping bags... I had a bed cover. However my tent-mates were unconvinced, that is until they stepped outside the tent into a massive mud puddle and the counselors explained that the rain was what had drenched all the tents.
After that experience we were able to convince my parents that next time I went camping I really needed to have a water resistant sleeping bag.
As someone who has been fortunate enough to travel to many locations around the world, I have experienced many different cultures and traditions. An aspect some people forget to consider when traveling or when simply residing in their hometown is the weather. In literature, it is often true weather is never just weather, as it usually hints or suggests the mood, or can provide vague predictions to what is going to happen next. While vacationing to Costa Rica I was privileged enough to visit the famous rainforests, a spot many people only read about or see in movies. My mother and I, accompanied with the rest of the tour group, climbed high in to the trees and soared through the air at a birds eye view, all while strapped to a zip line. At the time, I was no older than 14 years old and was excited to zip line for the first time in my life, but was undoubtedly feeling nervous about the new experience due to the sheer height and speed.
ReplyDeleteAfter being instructed through the first few easier zip lines, it was time to climb 150 more steps to the highest zip line of the day. Once I climbed to top and was harnessed into my gear it was my turn to step of the wooden platform into thin air. As I held my breath and squeezed my eyes closed I stepped off the ledge and gathered speed on the more than four hundred yard line. I was soaring over hundreds of trees and was taking in the unbelievable view when I began to feel soft drops of rain hit my face, which was surprisingly soothing considering the sheer speed I was going. As the rain picked up I emerged from the trees into a vast opening hundreds of feet in the air. The view was incredible as the rain formed multiple rainbows that seemed to sit on top of the trees all around me. The experience was one of the most amazing and memorable experiences in my life. As I approached the end of the longest zip line I rode that day, the rain slowed down to a light drizzle and when I landed on the platform and looked back from where I had come I could not believe how fast my heart was racing, but how calm and collected I felt. We finished the excursion with a two mile walk out of the forest, accompanied by another rain shower that was welcomed by the plants and animals in the forest.
When my mother and I returned back to the lodge, we met with a pen pal we had been writing to for five months prior to arriving at Costa Rica. The group sat down and had lunch together and shortly after my pen pal and I were excused and ran around the house to the soccer field out back. Although we did not speak the same language, the universal sport gave us the opportunity to connect and get to know each other. Just minutes we departed to drive 3 hours to the next hotel, it began raining again, but that did not stop us from enjoying the sport we love. We played in the rain for what seemed like hours and surprises our parents with our parents with our mud-covered clothes. After a quick rinse, I said my good byes and hopped the bus and fell asleep after a long day, but could not help think about the experience I had just hours before, that I am sure I will never forget.
As we started our pre-game warms up, what little daylight was left began to fade away. As the impending storm system moved in, thick cumulonimbus clouds blanketed the sky, making an already brisk day even colder. Warm-up’s were filled with exuberant jumping jacks and exaggerated leg kicks, in an attempt to combat the cold. Luckily, as the opening kickoff approached, the cold became less and less of a factor because our archrivals finally arrived. It was as if I was shot was a dose of adrenaline straight to the heart: my heart rate skyrocketed, my demeanor intensified, and my pace more than doubled.
ReplyDeleteThey entered the field from at the opposite end of the field and as they made their way across the field and to their sideline, we noticed something unsettling…Every last one of them adorned the “buzz-cut mohawks”, a rivalry tradition usually reserved for the upperclassmen where your entire head is buzzed except for a thin line running down the middle of your head. What I haven’t mentioned is the fact that as always our archrivals Radnor, came into the game heavy favorites. They had won the past seven consecutive games against us and were on a five game winning streak. However, for the first time in Lower Merion Freshman Football history our freshman team (all 16 of us) was not like our upperclassman counter parts. We came into the game sporting a 7-5 record, a true feat for Lower Merion Football considering, our upperclassmen counter parts hadn’t one a game in seven seasons, amounting a record of zero for their last 64.
Individual warms ended abruptly with a sharp whistle and the distinct tinkering sound rain droplets make when they hit a helmet. I headed to midfield with my four other teammates and we were opposed by their only two captains. Standing there as the rain intensified, a bitter feeling sank in. As I stared into the eyes of my opponent, in the distance I could barely make out a mummer that demanded everyone to shake hands and have a good game. However, like everyone else the only action actually taken was to sarcastically mutter good luck, without ever breaking eye contact.
From the first whistle until the last, there was only one constant—the rain simply never let up. During the game I realized a constant about playing in the rain, it’s only the saturation process is gradual one. Little droplets began hitting my jersey and then soaking in, making my maroon jersey checkered with black spots. But that was only the beginning because soon, more and more droplets find a way to make their mark on my pants, socks, and cleats as well. What as spots, has now spread like a virus attempting to consume my entire body. Starting from little droplets distributed evenly throughout, then more and more droplets soak in and create blotches. Finally blotches connect with other blotches until a breeze passes by sending a brisk tingling feeling that frosts my entire body. At that point I know I’m soaked from head to toe.
As the forth quarter came to an end, pools of water started to pile up around our turf field intensifying the game. Hits seemed more powerful due the fact that upon contact, if you looked closely enough you could make out the water that was sent cascading off a player upon impact, while they slid across the turf. In the end we did indeed pull off the upset, stuffing them on the goal line as time expired on a two point conversion try for the win; ending the game 16-14 in our favor.
The wind had died. Although the gusts had come variably all afternoon, they always held some presence in the between the blasts. This time, however, the wind had died completely. There I was, sitting in a sailboat in the middle of a lake, without my primary ability to move. Although such stillness had not yet affronted me that day, it was not an infrequent to have a few measures of rest before the excitement resumed. And so I waited. And waited. I’m sure I found some sort of way to semi-occupy my time: perhaps tossing stray bits of sand in my boat into the abyss or pondering the meaning to life, but still the wind did not come.
ReplyDeleteI had probably been sitting out there for about a half hour, without anything terribly meaningful to show for the last stretch of time when I saw something rather unusual. Off in the distance, I could see a disturbance on the surface of the otherwise smooth water, covering the full span of the lake, as though the distant glassy surface were being sandblasted. And it was approaching, as though the blast nozzle were headed towards me.
Then I heard it, and knew. Rain was coming. Within seconds, I was in the midst not only of a lake, but also a tidal wave of rain. Soaked, I could only hope that the rain also carried with it some amount of wind to carry me back to sure. Fortunately, just as a streak of brilliant light dashed across the sky in an earsplitting clap, a gust came up. Sitting next to an aluminum mast in a thunderstorm, I was glad to be headed back to shore, and to return my waterlogged body to warmth. The rain had made the journey colder and rather unpleasant, but it also brought the possibility of progress.
Tommy May
ReplyDeleteThe most vivid memory of rain for me must have come in my sophomore year of high school. This was my first year starting for our varsity football team who was ranked number one in the county. As a young kid i always idolized the big older football players playing for my high school.So the whole off season i worked my butt of to become the starting wide receiver, punter, kicker, and safety. This was a tall order for such a young kid. With all of these responsibilities came a lot of pressure.
It was September 11th 2007. The first thing i noticed that morning was the hailing rain and winds coming from outside my house. I could feel the house shaking as i was waking up from all the commotion in the storm. Of course that day i was already very nervous and knowing the fact that its pouring rain on one of the biggest days where i have to kick, punt, and catch did not help my cause. All day i was thinking about whether i was going to drop a big catch or not make the next play because of the inclement conditions. This was one of the biggest days of my life because it was my varsity debut. The rain really seems to capture my emotion all day before the game. The weather seems to stick out in my head so much because this day was so important to me and attracted so many emotions because about an hour before kickoff when we went out for warmups the sky cleared up tot he point where it seemed like god had answered my prayers. All i needed was that little bit of confidence to get me going. I was fully confident in my abilities to perform on this big stage. By the end of the day i compiled 2 receiving touchdowns, 8 tackles, 5 extra points, and most importantly a win. It was one of the best days in my high school career. The rain in the morning just stuck out in my mind because it was a very memorable day and it is one i will never forget.
One memory that I can remember being in the rain for happened about 3 years ago. Me and about six of my friends had bought tickets to a series of concerts that all play together called Warped Tour. We bought the tickets about three months in advance and were all really excited to go. Finally when that day came we got there about an hour before the event was scheduled to begin and there were already hundreds of people waiting in line. We arrived at about 10 o'clock in the morning and the weather was beautiful. We could already tell that it was going to be one of the hottest days of that summer. Finally the gates opened and everyone rushed in. As soon as the bands began to play everyone was really crowded and close together so it was very hard to move. Sweat was dripping from my body and my clothes were soaked in it. One of my friends even passed out from the heat and had to be taken in an ambulance. Everyone was having such a good time and the weather was holding out. The forecasters predicted rain for that day but up until that point they seemed to have been proven wrong. At about three o'clock in the after noon that is when the rain began. It wasn't just a drizzle it was a torrential downpour and nobody had time to get to a dry spot. There was one huge tent that was there so everyone was huddled under that. We were all having so much fun that day that at this point we were convinced the rain ruined everything. This event was held at a concert venue so there was a lawn area that happened to be on a hill. So to make the best out of the situation we all just ran up onto the hill and started sliding on down the hill on our stomachs seeing who can go the farthest. To this day it was one of the funnest times I have had. Just because there was a lot of rain, we did not let that ruin the whole day. That day is one that I will remember for a very long time.
ReplyDeleteI remember about 4 years ago I went to the movies with a bunch of friends. Normally, after the movie, we would always walk over to Wendy's and get food while we waited for our parents to pick us up. Unfortunately, when we looked outside, there was a hurricane-like storm taking over which didn't make for very good walking conditions so we all just waited in the lobby. It was taking a while for our parents to arrive and a few of us got bored. Suddenly, we all became thrilled with the idea of dancing in the rain. I mean, it's something you like have to do at some point in your life. So we did it. It was so much fun. We just ran around and let ourselves get drenched as we felt carefree and reckless. It was even funnier later when we had to sit on my dad's leather seats in our soaking wet clothes.
ReplyDeleteI remember this past summer I had gone to numerous concerts that were outside. Fortunately, every one of them the weather was beautiful. Towards the end of the summer, My brother and I decided to go see our favorite band 311. The show was at Pens Landing and the weather had been scorching. Towards the end of 311's set it was getting really warm from just being in the crowd, their most popular song "Amber" came on and all of a sudden, it started to rain lightly. It was just the perfect amount of rain and it made the concert that much better for my brother and I. As the song ended, it stopped raining, but the weather had cooled down to the perfect temperature so the rest of the concert could be enjoyed.
ReplyDeleteOne of the only times I really thought rain was interesting was when I was about ten years old. Spring had just came and I had been playing outside for a majority of the day. It started look as if it would rain but it didn't worry me enough to go inside. When the rain sure enough came the first thing that happened was i could feel the warmness get pushed away and a cold breeze followed. Then I began to hear the rain drops falling around me. I could see the rain in front of me but I was still dry. I witnessed the rain approaching me as a gigantic wall as wide as I could see rushing towards me. It looked so amazing and vivid, it reminded me of a scene out of Fantasia. When I looked up I could remember seeing a huge mass of rain clouds and rain pouring out of just the clouds leaving the rest of the sky clear. I never realized that rain must actually have to have an ending point until I saw exactly where it ended an the idea fascinated me. I began to actually try to bike away from the wall to stay dry. I wanted to keep the image of a nice day and a storm in my head for as long as possible. Eventually I decided to go inside rather than get wet but I don't think I could never get that image of seeing the beginning of a rain storm come directly at me out of my head.
ReplyDeleteDuring my summer vacation in London, on a sunday afternoon, my father and I were walking on a bright sunny day. We left out flat to go shopping and on our return, took a shortcut through hyde park. As we were walking back, I looked up and noticed the weather was changing and clouds were started form. Dressed only in jeans and t-shirt, I was unprepared for any sort of showers. All of sudden, the rain came thundering down. It was pouring heavily and was becoming a tremendous storm. Then, as if matters couldn't get worse, it begain to hail heavily. We ran and hid under a roof of one of the buildings and waited out the storm. After 10 minutes, the storm finally ceased, but we were soaked. I will never forget the unexpected and rain and hail storm in late summer of London.
ReplyDeleteSo last summer I was with two of my friends and we decided to go to go downtown and it was such a nice day out but the sky was half grey and it just looked like the climax in a superhero movie but anyway so were downtown walking towards the festival and then a huge wave of birds fly the oppsite direction of the festival and the blue sky slowly gets taken over by the grey clouds and then it just started to pour and everyone was running from the festival back to their cars and across the street to stores and restaurants. Then me and my friends sprint back to the car and were soaked from head to toe and we probably weren't even outside for 3 minutes. So were sitting in the car waiting for the storm to pass and it never does, it rained heavy for over 6 hours. So we all decided to go back home and the rain would lighten up but then start pouring again. So I'm taking my friend home or whatever and road that I had to take to get to her house was flooded so we had to get on the highway. The sun had set and the rain was soo heavy that the only time we could see was when there was lightening. So were driving like 10 miles per hour on the highway, my windshield wipers are at the maximum speed they could go and I still couldn't see. Mind you my friends house is normally a 15 minute drive but we were on the highway for an hour and when we were getting ready to exit my car started hydroplaning. And ever since today I can't forget that day because I've never been that scared while driving.
ReplyDeleteI'd have to say my most memorable experience happened when I was 12 years old. It was late July, and I was part of a Little League Allstar team hoping for a chance to make it to the Little League World Series. It was the district tournament championship, the first step in making it to the World series. Our team had gone through the tournament unbeaten and were the winners bracket champions, which meant that the other team would have to beat us twice to win. At the start of the national anthem the rain started to come down, and by the time it was over the thunder and lightning had began. It was at this point that they decided to postpon the game until the next day. When they did that our whole team ran into the outfield and began to slide on the grass like it was a slip and slide. The other team soon came over and joined us. The sense of camaraderie and sportsmanship between our two teams was great, even though we would be competing for a championship the next day. The fact that we were all able to put the competition aside for the day and act like a big group of over hyper kids together was really special to me.
ReplyDeleteMy most memorable experience with rain would have to be with my friend Hop on his 16th birthday party. It was at his house, and he was having a family party for his birthday. I know his family very well so he invited me over for the festivities. It was late August and it had been raining quite a lot during the entire month. Soon the clouds gathered in, and the entire mood of the party changed. Everyone gathered in the sun room to watch this powerful storm sweep through. Trees were bending and swaying from the intense winds and the rain continued to fall faster and faster. Soon Hop and I were getting sick of just being stuck in the house so we decided to run around in the storm. In his backyard he has a small creek, one that you can easily just jump over. Not a lot of water gathers in the creek but the rain pushed the limits and soon the creek began to flood into his backyard. The flooding didn't put his house in any danger, but instead created a playground for us. Hop saw the opportunity and grabbed his skimboard then started to glide across his slightly flooded backyard. After his first run I saw the excitement in his face and he passed the skimboard to me. I then too gave it a whirl and we ended up skimboarding in his backyard for the remainder of the storm. This experience showed me that rain isn't just impending our fun, but could broaden it too.
ReplyDeleteThe most memorable moment i've had involving rain had to be summer before 10th grade. I spent alot of that summer at my bestfriends house. She lived in a big wooden, modern, house with floor to ceiling windows. We were fifteen so we were at the age where our parents stopped being so sheltering and allowed us to explore and do as we pleased. One summer evening around the time the sun was going to set my boyfriend of the time called and told me that his mom was away for the night. Me and my two friends started to walk to his house, it was about a twenty minute walk. He met as at the halfway mark, as soon as he was in my sight it starting pouring rain, thundering, and lightning, we all took off running towards his apartement building, me and him purposely lagged behind, splashing in puddles, kissing, playing in the rain. When we finally got to his house my friends and I had to wear sweats and tshirts belonging to him while our clothes were in the dryer. We ordered chinese, watched movies, played games, and talked all night untill one when we had to walk all the way back home in the rain. He walked me all the way home and before I went inside told me he loved me. It was magic, my friends and I sat up and talked about him, our night, and my feelings until the sun came up the next day.
ReplyDeleteOne memory about rain that I hold close to my heart is when my brother and I went out during a HUGE rain storm and played in the rain. We stood on street corners hoping cars would splash us as the streets were flooding. We would kick the water to make a big splash and we would try to find ginormous puddles to jump in. I feel as if we had some of the best fun by just playing in the rain, and being able to bond and grow closer to each other while doing so. My brother is older than me and doesn't always show he cares, but its times like playing in the rain together that shows he will always be my brother.
ReplyDeleteA memory I recall upon is around halloween during a rainy day we hosted concerts for local philadelphia elementary kids because they cannot afford these music programs themselves. So we raise the money to bring them and host concerts for them with different characters. And we dressed up for halloween and we had a showing for the kids' costumes afterward. Just seeing the looks on their faces was memorable.
ReplyDeleteI like the rain, as long as, I don't have to go out in it. It is a pleasant and maybe a sleep enhancer just lying in bed on a rainy day. I am probably the most mellow person and at peace with the world on a wet day just looking outside. If I have something to do, or I have someplace to go (planned). I can exhibit quite a different attitude. It seems the latter is the most prevalent. Usually it brings out the worst in drivers as you try to negotiate through bumper to bumper traffic. It always seems liked when we scheduled a softball game, tag football- it would always be raining or a good chance of rain. I remember sitting down Citizens Bank Park for 3- 1/2 hours waiting for the Phils- Braves to play- well they finally cancelled the game. That wasn't to bad- we did have a small party atmosphere going on for the idle time. But, you have to take the good with the bad. In my childhood, I used to like to listen to light rain falling, bit I would panic when a severe thunderstorm would come through the area- especially at night. In fact, I still say I experienced seeing ball lightning. In grade school- the weatherman forecased heavy snow for the area starting overnight. We awoken the next morning thinking we had off from school- only to find out stay dry- here is your rain coat. We were walking to school with the water soaking our pants around our shoes because the water runoff from our rain coated was like a leaky gutter on a house. So, I always remembered rain for the good and the bad. It is a necesary to sustain life on our planet, and we must remember the sun will (most of the time) come out tomorrow.
ReplyDeleteBack when I was younger, around the age of around 7 or 8, I would spend a lot of time in the summer at my Grandparents house. My Grandfather owned an oil company which he ran off of his massive property. At the time, both of my parents worked for him so they would bring me with them to work and I could hangout with my cousins who are the same age as me. I vividly remember the rain on one stormy day mid August or September. I was probably about 7 like I said, so I thought it could be the next nonstop 40 days and nights. I was wrong, it only lasted about 4 days or so but either way it was the biggest storm I have ever seen. It started while I was on a bike ride home from a convenient store down the road a little bit. It was a flash flood, a spontaneous downpour. It was a treacherous ride home. It lasted only about 10 minutes in the rain but i was completely soaked by the end. Cars would splash me as they drove through surrounding puddles which blurred my already dazed vision. I had a hard time keeping the things in my bag steady, and eventually the faulty bag ripped so i had to carry a hoagie, bag of chips, and soda in my hands while riding on a bicycle through tho terrible rainstorm. It was one terrible experience because the rain was so much more intense than I had ever seen before. The whole driveway was completely flooded at my Grandparent's house. They had about a half mile long driveway on a slight slant; all of which was flooded, but at the bottom there was a puddle about 2 feet deep and a span of about 250 yards2. The puddle made any traffic between business and oil delivery trucks very hard and sometimes nearly inaccessible. I remember just sitting by the window for hours on end, looking at the vast, dark grey clouds draped in the sky. They drew such a dark mood to the days it rained. Sometimes, just for fun I would venture out into the never-ending downpour an run around. After about 3 or 4 seconds, I would be completely drenched in water. Just watching the rain pour down for so long was sometime of itself, it made me wonder greater things than just the rain like the world and human life itself. This 4 day experience was really enlightening while horrible at points; but overall I learned a very valuable lesson- always come prepared with an umbrella.
ReplyDeleteAround the time I was probably eight years old, I remember playing in a huge puddle created by heavy rain with two of my friends on a summer day. On this day, I was out with two of my friends from the neighborhood, Bryan and Jo-Jo ( real name Joseph) after we got kicked out of my mom’s store for playing on the arcade games for too long.
ReplyDeleteWhile outside, we did our usual routine, we scoured the neighborhood for nooks and crannies to investigate. We were about a block down from my mom’s store when it started to drizzle. We had just finished going through the brush of an empty lot looking for something to do or find in an abandoned shack hidden by the shade of trees and long grass. Nothing was there, so we decided to go play basketball on the courts behind my school which was conveniently located two blocks away from my mom’s store.
As we were walking in the direction of my mom’s store, it rained heavier and heavier with every passing minute. Jo-Jo’s house was located a block away from the courts so we went to his house to get the basketball. By the time we reached his home, we were all soaked but we were too stubborn to give up. We were to too stubborn to let something as small as heavy rain ruin our chance to have fun and so Jo-Jo rushed into his house without his mom noticing and snatched his basketball up. While he was gone the rain got even heavier. Small streams were running down the sides of the street and tree branches were falling off trees. Even that scene didn’t scare us in the least. We were prepared to see how it was to shoot hoops in the rain.
When Jo-Jo came back outside, we all had a short conversation, one I cannot recall. The one thing that did stand out to me though was the sound of the sound of the rain against the roof of Jo-Jo’s porch and the huge puddle that we had all just seen formed from the rain. On one side of the intersection, a semi-clogged drainage duct collected enough water to create a huge puddle, about as wide as two car lengths and deep enough to reach my knees. Instinct took over all of us and we jumped into the puddle. We waded through the cool water, splashed each other, skipped the basketball across the water, and even stood to take the force of the waves created by passing cars driving through the puddle. I even tripped Bryan causing him to fall in almost face deep. We did something that our parents always prevented us from doing, we played in the rain.
We kept it up until Jo-Jo’s mom spotted us across the street, called Jo-Jo in and told Bryan and I to go home. With one of us taken out, Bryan and I went to my mom’s store after we took one last car wave. I do not know what happened to Bryan afterward but for the rest of the week I was sick with a cold. But it was worth it.
I’ve never been fond of the rain, NEVER. I absolutely HATE to get wet in the rain. I hate how it feels on my skin. Cold rain, warm rain, rain period – I do not like raindrops hitting my skin. It’s not my shower, it’s not the ocean, I do not like to be wet.
ReplyDeleteI HATE the way The dampness of my clothes, the way they NEVER completely dry. Wet, cold (regardless of outdoor temperature), and damp ALL DAY LONG…wrinkled.
It’s terrible.
The rain wrecks havoc on my hair. It makes it limp, it makes it frizzy, it makes it a bad hair day.
BUT…oh, how I LOVE the sweet smell of rain on a warm summer night. Peaceful, as if it just washed away all the bad and now you can smell all things good.
I LOVE! the rain. During my aunts wedding in the Dominican Republic it was a bright sunny day, everyone was happy and smiling. I unfortunately was mad because my mother had me wear a suit, I hated those when I was young. About 15minutes into the wedding the sky started pouring the floor was wet in minutes... Everyone started talking luckily for them there was a tent where the couple was and about half the guest got covered by it. I moved to one of the back chairs where the rain was dropping everyone there had a big frown on their faces I was the only one with a big white stain(smile) on my face. Was a great day, for me at least.
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