Rain Dance

A short essay which was recently published by the Chopper Journal

Perhaps during the middle of a day such as this the Gods will bless us with a Sun Shower, few things are more wondrous or beautiful than softly falling rain on a bright summer’s day. Those lucky enough to be caught in it will automatically hold their heads backward to catch every cooling drop. The Sun Shower is a fleeting thing, in moments it’s gone leaving the heat and smell of steam behind. The heat returns with greater intensity.

There’s only one actual cure for this type of heat; a thunderstorm.

During the middle of an absolutely clear day all at once the sky will thicken and turn dark. Overhead Zeus lets us know that he’s warming up as he tosses streaks of heat lightning across a purple sky. Thunderclaps echo over town to announce the official arrival and then suddenly…rain. Blessed rain. Not mere droplets, no simple Sun Shower, but a sheer torrent as the clouds open to drop their payload in a great sheets and fat juicy drops. Steam rises from the sidewalks and streets. Children of all ages run into the street and jump in swiftly running streams along the roadway. They laugh, they twirl and they dance in clear cool water given to them directly from the Gods, no tap required.

I dance too. Often during one of these storms my neighbors can find me outside, sometimes right in front of the house, my head held back and my arms reaching for the sky as I whirl and twirl and dance in the summer rain. For a few glorious moments nothing but the rain and I exist. If, per chance, one of these storms should strike at night rather than the middle of the day then you’re apt to find me dancing in the rain in my backyard skyclad. (I do this only at night because I don’t want to frighten the neighbors.)

Spinning round and round and round, naked and unashamed I dance. I laugh. I sing. With fierce intensity I feel the connection between the Sky, the Earth and I. With my arms reaching ever skyward my fingers splayed out, my long tresses plastered to my body I revel in the power of the storm, I become One with it and feel the energy rise within me and know that I have a purpose. I welcome the storm with every pore, letting it wash over me, envelope me, fill me, cool me, cleanse me body and soul. When I am drenched to the bone lightheaded from laughter, dance and my communing with the Divine, full of the storm’s energy I stumble into the house, grab my husband and indulge in other more intimate delights the storm has to offer.

I love a rainy night.