Parting the Clouds

Rainy Days and Mondays

Blue Eyes Cryin in the Rain

A Little Fall of Rain

(Checkerboard Mesa after a storm)

We are slowly drying out here after an August and September filled with what seemed to be daily deluges. Because there always seems to be plenty of rain, I never feel guilty about wishing/singing, "Rain, rain, go-away"! It is easy to take rain for granted when you routinely receive over 40-inches of rain a year, putting us on a par with Portland and Seattle.

(Not the view from the cabin - Grand Canyon North Rim)

Rain at the cabin is an entirely different story. There is always a sense of excitement that accompanies the possibility of rain. We watch, we wait and we wonder. Perhaps this has something to do with the fact that the yearly rainfall at the cabin is less than 6-inches. Sometimes the clouds gather and darken, but nothing else happens. However, sometimes the rain does come - usually in the form of a brief, blustery, downpour. We sit out on the covered deck and watch the lightening and listen to the thunder. The storm blows in, the temperature drops, the wind whips the rain onto the deck and before we get too settled into our watching, the storm has passed.

(Actual view from the deck)

I learned something about clouds and storms while visiting 2nd Mesa on the Hopi Reservation in Arizona. Craig and I were there to meet with a phenomenal artist and craftsman, Weaver Selina and his wife Alberta, an award-winning coil basket maker and artist in her own right. We were there to commission custom silver overlay wedding bands - to replace my wedding ring after the central diamond and its setting broke off and were lost. (The diamond and setting were actually found a year later.... long story.) We worked with the Selina's to choose traditional Hopi symbols, and then spent the afternoon designing bands that we hoped would symbolize our marriage and our future.

Craig wanted to include the symbols for clouds, rain and lightening on his band. He has always been a storm watcher and we joked with the Selina's that our marriage has weathered a few storms through the years. All joking aside, I questioned why Craig would want to permanently display those symbols on a wedding band.

(After storm view and sunset from the deck)

Craig understood the symbolism better than I did and Weaver kindly taught me that while the symbols represent what they are (clouds, rain and lightening), because every drop of rain is precious and life-sustaining, they also symbolize

change

renewal

and

fertility.

As I experience clouds and rain, and intense thunderstorms in my life, I find myself hoping that the storms will end, the clouds will part, and the sun will return. However, I am also learning that as important as it is to watch for, focus on and savor the moments when the clouds part, it is also valuable to remember that storms bring about opportunities to experience change and renewal and *fertility.

And every drop can become precious and life-sustaining.

*Full disclosure, at this point in my life my only interest in the fertility aspect of the symbols is purely with regard to intangible concepts and ideas!