Readings about Rain

Rainy Days Sometimes though I have no clue where the theme for discussion will lead, I just know that it will be wonderful. This month the group’s suggestion of Rainy Days was one of those occasions. We found that rain has so many associations that the conversation became an ever-deepening reservoir of ideas as they poured down from every direction. (Sorry, couldn’t help it). We talked about our personal and cultural relationship to rain, how it is a carrier of meaning and history, the literary and musical symbolism of it and we even created a playlist for you to share some of that richness of meaning Read on to see some of the variety of thoughts that emerged….

Jean Thompson Rain: Friend or Foe? A friend when it waters crops and gardens and replenishes the reservoirs that supply us with the water we need for everyday life. A friend when it freshens us up as well as the environment. If we don’t have enough of it, then we have droughts. Crops wither, gardens shrivel and we have to ration the water we use. How must it be for countries that haven’t had rain for years, not just a few weeks? We watch the programs, we know how much rain is needed to be a friend to that land. A rainy day is prayed for, and welcomed with celebrations when it comes.

But what about when it is a foe? When we have too much of it. When floods wash away lands, houses, livelihoods and lives. When time after time, people are washed out of their homes but can’t move away so have to live with the permanent feeling of dread. Not just clean rain water but all the sludge and debris it brings with it. How would we regard a rainy day then? Not with joy, that’s for sure. How do we enjoy a rainy day then on a more personal level? The smell of a shower of rain after a prolonged hot spell. The freshness, the cleanness of the air and the ground after it. The perkiness of flowers after a well-deserved and long awaited drink.

The sight of children who universally love to splash in rain puddles. Either with wellies or without them. Who has taught children the delight of doing that? How have children through generations compared notes that this is a wonderful thing to do? And what about all the songs that over many years make reference to rain? All the paintings, all the poems. Joyful or melancholic, there’s no getting away from the importance of rain, this natural occurrence.

Mark Taylor Sometimes the rain falls so heavily it feels almost magical, the way it would if you had never seen rain before. As a boy I would sit in the armchair by the living room windows and wonder if there would be a flood. Floods then meant not mess and destruction and danger, but adventure and excitement, the world transformed, and of course, school cancelled. I never stopped to wonder how the water would make it out of the nearby quarry pits or above the embankments of the M62 to our street—or what it would mean for our house, set below the road at the end of a sloping front garden, if it did. I just saw the rain, and thought it was magical.

I still get that feeling sometimes. I carefully examined the flood maps before we bought our house and the damp patch that appeared after the first heavy rain, so I can enjoy the magic and feel secure, for as long as I don’t think too hard about those with homes on flood plains, or with no homes at all. For as long as I don’t think too hard about why the rain seems to fall more heavily more often these days. I fear a day will come when we are all soaked to the bone. It is a small comfort to remember that, once you are soaked through, you can finally stop hiding from the rain, lift your head, and stride through it.

Margaret Kendall Rainy days on holiday I’m not someone who likes to bask in the sunshine on a beach, but doesn’t everywhere look better when the sun is out and the sky is blue! Wearing the right gear, rain doesn’t stop me from enjoying a walk in the countryside, although I do find it harder to set off in the rain than cope with a shower whilst I’m already out.

Sometimes, rethinking plans because of rain can bring unexpected benefits. On a Spring holiday in Cornwall, we moved from our cliff top camp site to a more sheltered site nearer to the Eden Project after a forecast of strong winds and very heavy rain. Our visit to the Eden Project had been long-anticipated and we’d arranged to meet a friend there. Despite the rain, we had a lovely time chatting, wandering round the gardens under the domes and relaxing in the café. The tulip display was particularly beautiful.

The next day, we decided to take advantage of the rather expensive “valid for a year” ticket and spend another day there. On the first day, we’d had an impressionistic view of the gardens, but on the second day we also really enjoyed taking our time, finding out more about the different plants growing in the temperate, tropical and sub-tropical zones, and reading the featured quotations and poetry. It was such a memorable experience, I’m glad it rained that day.