"If it's not raining you are not in PG"

Yes that is a direct quote from a presenter we had in our classes today. And by golly that man could not have been any more correct. At this point in time I have given up on defining any type of seasonal weather here in Punta Gorda. No spring, no fall, no winter, no summer, not even a wet or dry. It just rains. I remember in elementary school, first grade I believe, I watched the movie about a girl who lived in a town where the sun only appeared for about half an hour per day, or something ridiculous like that. The rest of the time it was monsoon season, torrential down pour time. The movie was quite depressing for a group of 7 year olds, but anyone familiar with my first grade teacher Ms. Nielsen won’t be surprised by this selection. The little girl had a dream, she wanted too badly to plant a seed and watch its flower bloom in the sunshine. But unfortunately her evil classmates locked her in their classroom during the one hour of sunshine during which the flower bloomed and they ran happily outside in the sunshine. Now I don’t recall if this was the ending of the story or not, but in my 6 or 7 year old brain this was the memory which stuck. While my experience with the rain isn’t as depressing I do find myself CRAVING the sunshine and soaking up as much of it as I can when it does decide to grace PG with its presence. The rain has not really become something I loath, nor has it become a real hindrance (although biking to work this morning was difficult through the rain, I did not expect because when I left my house it was sunny, it takes me 6 mins to bike to work, did I mention I was wearing a white shirt and khaki?) But the rain has become one of those elements of life I have taken as normal, much like the woodlice, cockroaches, and at one point mice. Here in Punta Gorda it rains that is what it does. Its amazing how often I am reminded that going with the flow of life and accepting things for their positive gifts. The positive aspects of rain; EVERYTHING is green green green, my skin never dries out (nothing ever dries out), I can get a lot, and I mean a lot, of reading done.
During times of great rain I'm learning you don't really need the sun to bring you hope or happiness. Those things can come from any surprising sources.


ps it started raining/torrential down pouring today at 720 and is still going now at 1121 lets see how long it lasts.