Raindrop Memories

 No rain today. Finally. Just as it was forecaster. People are returning to the park. Finally. I've seen even some joggers and runners. 

Yesterday was raining. Not just a drizzle like the day before yesterday but real rain. I just saw two persons (possibly a husband and a wife) walking their dogs. They wore raincoats and stayed in the park for just a few minutes. 

I was stubborn with my daily routine. I knew I could skip a day and the following day would be dry but I did not. 

Birds were still singing. I could not clearly hear every single melody. The hoodie on my waterproof jacked was muffling them. However, I could hear raindrops falling on my hoodie. They provided rhythm to the harmonies created by birds. 

The sounds of raindrops hitting my hoodie awoke some memory. My wife and me sitting in our car in some Kentucky or Tennessee state park in really heavy rain. 

It was around fifteen years ago. I was working overtime. I spent several weekends working. Finally, it was the 4th of July and we wanted to go somewhere to celebrate. My wife and I were alone in our car. Our daughter was in a van with my wife's sister, her husband, their son, and parents.

After hours of driving we have arrived but so has very heavy rain. My wife and I are parked in our car. The van is right next to us. The heavy rain separates us. The area is out of cell phone network. We cannot even call them. I'm thinking after all days I was working hard, after hours of driving, are we going to spend the 4th of July sitting in our car and not even being able to talk to our daughter that is just a few feet from us?

To calm both my wife and myself I said: "We cannot change the weather but we can make our own decision on what to do about it. We can get nervous, even desperate, or we can enjoy the moment. Just listen to the raindrops falling on the roof of our car". And we did so. I've turned on the radio. I was able to tune in to a single radio station. They were playing classic rock and roll. The sound of raindrops mixed with rock'n'roll made the whole experience pleasant. 

After a while, the rain stopped. I remember a rainbow showed up. We were able to spend the rest of the day the way we planned. However, I do not remember anything about the rest of the day. I do not remember the exact location but I remember how we enjoyed the moment because we chose so. 

The raindrops' rhythm in my park awoke that memory.