There is a poem by e. e. cummings called [in Just-] in which he uses the phrase “when the world is puddle-wonderful.” I thought of it today when I was out on my walk. It rained overnight and rained all day and will likely rain all night tonight. The yard around the house looks more like a series of streams and ponds than a yard. The driveway is underwater.
How do I enjoy a rainy day? I put on my slicker and my wellies, and go out and splash in the puddles.
The rain is warm, almost tropical. There must be life in the drops that are falling to earth because it looks and feels as if Spring arrived overnight. The trees are wearing their spring aura, looking almost ready to burst into leaf or flower. Daffodils I didn’t know we had popped up out of the ground. Those that I did know about are opening and blooming. A close look at the wax myrtles and cedars show new growth.
My favorite things to photograph in the rain are the pine and cedar trees. They hold on to raindrops as if they are precious jewels.
The trunk of the cedar is beautiful in any weather. It looks gray when it is dry, but in the rain, reds and greens emerge.
The only way to make sense out of change is to plunge into it, move with it, and join the dance.
~ Alan Wilson Watts
Most of the cedars here on the Wabi-Sabi Ranch are at the edges, near the marsh. They are at the edge of the woods where it transitions to marsh, and at the edge of the yard, another marsh transition point.
Let life happen to you. Believe me: life is in the right, always.
~ Rainer Maria Rilke
Thanks for taking a walk in the rain with me today. I have more snow pictures I want to show you eventually. Maybe I’ll save them for the hot days of July and August when it will feel good to look at the cold of winter. I also have a few around-the-house photos. I should set a date for a post about the house. I get so wrapped up in nature around here that I forget some of you would like to see the progress we’re making. How about Wednesday, April 2? That sounds like a good date to me.
Be good, be kind, be loving. Just Be. 🙂 And when you get the chance, go out and splash around in the puddles. You won’t regret it.
breezes at dawn 
Nothing better than walking in the rain, Robin, (so long as it’s not pouring down too hard to see of course!! 😉 ). Lovely damp photo’s , especially of the glistening raindrops, you can almost smell the freshness in the air. Beautiful. Now about that date? April 2nd sounds good to me… Loved seeing Mr. Heron on the header, posed to perfection methinks. HNTrails. xPenx.
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Thank you, Pen. 🙂 April 2nd it is.
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What a delightful series. I’m with you…. love being out in the rain when it’s not too frigid or coming down in buckets.
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Thank you, Gunta. 🙂
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We had the most incredibly hot and dry summer here Robin and I also felt puddle-wonderful when the rain began this last week….the grass turned green overnight, just as daffodils popped out of your ground, but yesterday the tropical heat set in, and it felt like summer again, so hot and sticky, and the weather channel tells us this morning that we have 101% humidity. I wonder if that is their way of emphasizing the clamminess?!!
In the area where we live, when the settlers first moved in, cedar trees by the thousand were cut and either used for establishing new buildings, or shipped out of the area and sold! I had no idea how beautiful the colours of the trunk in the growing tree would be, you are very fortunate to have those trees there.
Wednesday sounds good….I’ll be here! I’d love to see the progress you have made in the house….oh, but it will be Thursday for me. 🙂
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Thank you, Joanne. 🙂 101% humidity??!! Yikes. That is very clammy indeed.
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Well we’re having a whole lot of that wonderful here today!!!! 🙂
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Yay! 😀 Hopefully it’s better than all the snow you’ve had this winter.
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Well…..then we woke up to snow this morning!!!!
Ahhhhh well….it’s almost all gone now!
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At least there’s that. 😀
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😉 And then it was sunny all day….. 🙂
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This post is puddle-wonderful. Thanks for catching those raindrops just about to let go. Such beautiful imagery.
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You’re welcome, eM. And thank you so much. I’m glad you enjoyed the walk in the rain. 🙂
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This made me smile. You remind me of Kathy in the UP…you enjoy things the rest of us might not notice. My favorite of these (besides your header which is so gently lovely) is the truck of a cedar. It made me stop and examine, lovely color. Glad you enjoyed your rain!
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Thank you, Dawn. 🙂 Kathy and I have a lot in common, and it was Kathy who inspired me to get outside every day for a year after reading about her year of stepping out the door every day. It was a life-changing year that taught me to be more aware. I walked the same paths most days, and learned that they are not the same paths from day to day. There’s always something new to discover. I’m not sure I would have learned that without Kathy’s experience and example to follow.
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I know, it was incredible to read her year.
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such a fresh and deliciously wet post Robin .. our rain has almost gone, just a drizzle this afternoon, and the ants are busy excavating … but yours is soaking in and doing those trees and that earth so much good … hurray for rain, and for change!
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Thank you, Christine. 🙂 I’m afraid the rain is starting to overstay its welcome. We had over 1.5 inches yesterday, and it’s still pouring today. It might change over to snow this evening.
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Puddle splashing, how wonderful! Your pictures are lovely. How nice to feel warm rain. We’ve got rain too,but it is still a bit raw feeling outside to enjoy the puddles. I do love doing that in the summer time after a quick rain shower – I go outside barefoot and splash in the puddles on my driveway enjoying the warmth and wet together.
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I know what you mean about the raw feeling, Karma. The temperature here has been dropping and the rain is now becoming Too Much. We might get snow this evening. I like snow and all, but it’s getting rather late in the season for it. I’d like to get my garden growing. 🙂
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I love that poem by e.e.cummings, Robin. Good for you, going out and splashing around in the rain. I’ve been staying dry today, in my warm cozy house. Beautiful pictures, as always. 🙂
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Thank you, Cathy. 🙂
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