It calms me, brings balance and serenity to my heart.
 |
| My rain drenched paradise.... |
Looking out my kitchen window while prepping for Sunday dinner I am in absolute awe of the beauty. When you are in front of my house it is your normal suburban neighborhood cul de sac. Tidy little homes with beautifully landscaped front lawns. A group of people that care about how their homes are perceived, people that simply care.
Then you peak out the back window... its a deep, misty rain forest. Towering trees, flowering ones mixed in. A steamy underside rising as the heat and rain mix. The green is lush, multi-tone, dark pine greens tempered by the soft spring green of the aspens. It's rich. Enveloping, welcoming and forbidding all at once.
Hubs has finished pressuring washing the front and back yard. I offered to help, knowing darn well I would pay for it. He refused, even though he knew he would pay for it. I guess he figured his aching leg could rest easier in a tub filled with hot Epsom salted water a whole lot easier than I could recover from the damage mold does to me. Sure didn't realize there was so much mold until he started cleaning it either.
Ah, the joys of this deeply wooded oasis we call home.
My headache is dulling, it's been a long couple of days. I wish it would give up and leave all together, but at least it's hit a tolerable level. I even went out briefly to visit with the neighbors at the block party last night. I am not overly social (despite the fact Hubs is Mr. Social Butterfly) so while he was in his glory, I was longing to be inside my dim, cool home sitting in silence and knitting.
They all seem to be very nice people. Fun and friendly, too bad all the folks that I would want to hang out with had stayed at home inside, much like I would have done.
Today I couldn't even summon the energy for church, thankfully Hubs recorded the sermon for me so that I can listen to it a bit later. I am still enjoying the peace and quiet. The sound of the giant rain drops hitting the tin on the fireplace exhaust stacks is about the extent of noise I want to deal with today.
Soon the smell of Sunday dinner will start radiating through the house, as Hubs and I wait for a break in the weather to take our boys and our grand dog out for their afternoon walks. The only one of the three that is truly going to have a fit about the weather is the little old man. The other two, well they will simply take it in stride.
I cannot believe the amount of projects on our to do list that we have accomplished. Nor can I believe the sense of accomplishment and success that the very act of completing them has brought to my sense of well being. Right now I am simply taking a break. Pausing to rest my knee and my head. Soon I will get back to the projects at hand. Finishing the laundry, ironing, cleaning the turtle aquarium, maybe even finding the box with the quilt that I need to finish for Hubs.
I believe that he and I can tackle the world right now. Maybe it's the power of that beautiful rain, cleansing the earth. I feel for my youngest, he lives in drought stricken California, he is also a child of Germany - I wonder how he is doing without the rain. It feels so life giving.
Between the rain and my head I have had to slow down this weekend. I've needed it. I've had time to do a little of this, a little of that and a lot of reflection and planning. Today has been about slow. Slow roasted dinner, simmering gently in the oven. Slowly working my way through my chores - stopping and resting when needed. It's been renewing.
Hubs and I were just talking about how when you are deeply engaged in doing something that you feel brings value to you and your life that it is very easy to forget the pain or exhaustion it is going to cause. I understood completely what he was talking about. As I'd watch from a safe distance as he methodically cleaned both the deck and patio, each swipe leaving the clean and mold free beauty that was there I understood. He was finding peace and accomplishment in a job well done. I also knew he'd be hurting when he walked out of that bubble of concentration. I do that a lot myself. I get so wrapped up in a project, task or goal that I forget that life has given me perimeters that I really do need to function inside of. And when that happens... I pay for it.
Hubs and I are both surrounded by an amazing support system. Proving to us time and again that sometimes water is thicker than blood and that if we need so little as a hug or prayer there are many to help us. We don't waste that love and support on silly things. We would never dream of abusing it. The time will come where we will need help. Today simply isn't that day.
It's time to open the blinds a bit more and savor that elemental beauty that only a deep, steady, rhythmic rain can bring to the soul. While we wrap our hearts in the love of our families (blood, Y, church, neighbors)...
Even in the darkest hours... There is love and beauty!
No comments:
Post a Comment