A rainy day in summer

Last night a huge thunderstorm swept across Melbourne. As showers continued into the day, I decided to go to my sit spot. The little purple flowers were drenched in rain, the droplets glistening as they held on to the stems. The streams were full again, ducks happily swam along the creek. As I walked across the grass path, I saw this little flower. A lonely flower, a beauty in lilac with drops of rain on its delicate petals. It reminded me of a poem I once read online:

Another day, another hour
Until I walk past a lonely flower.
I stare at its beauty and its grace
That’s when I realize, I slowed my pace.
The flower enjoys the wind and sun
Lets itself be, and defined by no one.
It takes each day as it comes and goes
Proud to display what it has to show.
Thankful for the sunlight of every day
and open to acceptance of the harsh rain.

As I walk along the creek, I breathe in the strong scent of the earth and the eucalyptus trees. This smell inspired two Australian scientists to coin the word “petrichor”. It’s a beautiful word to suggest that humans inherited an affection for the smell from ancestors who relied on rainy weather for their survival.

The rain reminds me that everything, every living thing on Earth, needs water to survive. I hope it rains every now and then in summer.