Stop and Smell The Rain

Earlier this year I was fortunate enough to go back home and visit my family in Alaska. As is typical for the land of the midnight sun, it rained. A lot. One afternoon the rain stopped long enough to step outside and take in the freshly cleaned air. Walking to the end of the porch, I stepped down onto the sidewalk and paused to view the colorful flora in my mother’s flower beds. Beads of crystal droplets hung from every leaf and settled on every petal. Even with the dim light through the clouds, all of the colors flashed vibrantly

I inhaled deeply. The moisture that hung in the air was like a revitalizing drink from the tree of life. These vibrant flower beds in front of the house were something that I never truly appreciated growing up. The fragile beauty that my mother tenderly cared for each year, knowing they would wither and die come fall. Like many things in life, that is how beauty is. It comes with intense passion, with esthetic joy, and sometimes with wonderful sorrow. And then, its gone. So many summers come and gone and she always kept this beautiful display of life in the front of the house. I didn’t have any macro lenses, but used a 200mm to zoom in and get these shots. And they turned out pretty good if I do say so. So when its raining, just remember to sometimes pause and inhale that ephemeral energy in that moment that life has given. And most of all, be grateful for it.