When it rains, depending on where you live, you are happy, sad, or somewhere in between. If you stay in a place like mine, the sound of rain can be bittersweet. You’re happy it’s raining and the weather is cool, concurrently, you’re unhappy, thinking about how you can’t drive out the next day because of the flooded roads. You’re happy because you live in a serviced estate and won’t be affected if the lights go off, simultaneously, you’re sad because the estate generators have been unreliable for some days and lights can go out anytime.
When it rains during the day on a weekday, depending on the nature of your work model, you’re either going to feel cozy or uneasy. If like me, you’re a remote worker, you have the luxury of making a cup of hot chocolate and going under your duvet with your laptop, you get to enjoy the warmth of your bed while still being productive. If like my good friend, Jozy, you work out of an office, you have no luxury of comfort. You’re stuck at your desk, thinking of how you’ll find your way through the semi-flooded roads of Victoria Island to get a bus to go to your house. Your house with no light from EKEDC, as if to punish you for the skies daring to release the rains.
When it rains, I sit by the sliding door in my room and look out the window. I watch as the droplets of rain hit the asphalt, I watch as the palm trees in front of my neighbour’s house sway to the tune of the wind, I watch as people walk faster as if being beaten by the rain is worse than falling down the slippery road. I notice that as people walk by the house next door, my neighbour’s dogs that habitually bark at passersby are silent, as they themselves go and seek shelter from the rain. I enjoy the silence and close my eyes to take in the glorious sound the rain makes when hitting the roof and road. The rain loves me as much as I love it and even when I’m indoors, it finds its way to me by following the wind into my room. My bliss is abruptly cut by the wetness of the curtain against my skin and then I have to leave my seat by the sliding door to close my windows.
When it rains, I think of Genesis 7 & 8. I try to imagine how the people that did not get on the ark felt, I sometimes feel a tinge of pity for them because I know what regret feels like. I, however, do not know what regret looks or smells like but I like to think the flood that wiped the earth looked and smelled of regret. When the hammering of the rain against the roof gets louder, the thought of being flooded crosses my mind but I’m reminded of the rainbow, God’s promise to Noah in Gen 9:13. Taking comfort in knowing that God will never destroy the earth with a flood again, I close my eyes and go back to taking in the glorious sound and feeling of the rain.
P.S. Flox and I are using writing prompts to help us journal better and I’ve decided to share my writings here. Should be fun!