looking up

This morning I opened my front door to check the weather.  Of course, on the internet there are a million ways to find out everything I could want to know, from temperature to humidity to wind speed and UV index...but there is something nice about discovering parts of the world for yourself.  And so when I check the weather, I like to step outside.

It's not that it was too warm...probably only around 80 degrees or so.  It was that no-good awful dampness, that hellish humidity, the sheer amount of moisture in the air that seemed to choke my good spirits right there on the front porch.  I like to sweat.  Give me a hot, sunny day, and I'll make the best of it.  But I can't handle feeling like someone turned my city into a giant sauna.  It's one of those days where everything suggests rain.  You can smell it in the air, you can taste it, you can see the clouds hanging heavy over the hills.  From the tallest trees to the blades of grass, even nature seems to be standing on her tiptoes to catch the first drop.  But it's not coming today.

It's hard to wait for the things we really want, especially when they seem so close at hand.  I want it to rain so that the tomatoes, squash, and cucumber in the garden will spring up out of the grown and into my salad bowl.  I want an adventure - want to wake up in a new city and dive into the faces, the culture, the task ahead of me.  For months now, I've been treading water.  Not drowning, but not swimming either.  I'm sure I wasn't meant to be a permanent resident of this border town between youth and adulthood.  With one eye always on the rearview and one to the sky waiting for good providence to fall upon me, I'm forgetting not only to look ahead, but to remember the place I'm standing right now.

But sometimes we have to stop looking up.  Stop waiting for life to happen to us.  Stop wondering when it will ever rain.   The right time is so many times right now, and its funny how different life looks when you are an object in motion.  It's funny how many times when you're breathing hard and your heart is pounding, when your eyes are on the road, that those selfish clouds finally let it out.  The rains bring cool winds, relief to the ground, and new life for all.  But one thing is for certain, if you don't leave your house -- if you're just standing there on the porch, you'll never get caught in the downpour.