We’ve had snow this year, which may sound obvious to many of you but here on the westcoast it’s a rare thing.  Sure, we usually get the odd flurry and kids rush outside to try to make snowmen, snowballs and anything else before it melts, which is typically within a day. This year, we’ve been in a deepfreeze (for us) and the snow has stuck around for weeks! It’s pretty, I love to look out the window and see the trees covered in sparkly white, everything quiet under the blanket of snow. It’s peaceful, and makes me want to cuddle by the fire and make casseroles for dinner.  But this is the “wetcoast” and all things snow must come to an end sometime.

Today it is raining. The snow is all but gone, the odd pile slowly melting into a muddy puddle. It will rain all day, then all night and for the foreseeable future.  You see, rain is what we get here as our winter weather.

From November to April it rains, sometimes its grey and foggy with a biting stinging cold rain.  Sometimes it’s bright, with the sun desperately trying to break through, giving us glorious rainbows.  No matter what kind of rain it is, it’s still rain. For some people it is downright depressing, the ever damp, dreariness of soggy boots and mittens. But I refuse to be swayed to the darkside.

I am a self confessed rain lover. I have grown up here on the westcoast so rain is part of my life. I love the smell of rain on hot pavement in the summer, the first drops of cool rain in the fall and the steady patter on my windows in the winter, like a heartbeat. I own several waterproof jackets, one for each season, and rubber boots are my go to footwear. Rain doesn’t stop me or get me down, it invigorates me.

Summers on our island can be incredibly dry, so every bit of rain is counted as a blessing.  We harvest it, like a crop!  We hord it, save it for a dry day, always happy for more. Without the rain we harvest, our gardens wouldn’t produce the food we grow in the summer and eat throughout the winter and our animals wouldn’t have as much fresh water to drink.

Rain, like all water, is life giving. I look up into the sky, as the rain falls mercilessly on my face and I see a future full of life and abundant growth.  So bring it, I welcome each wet day!  Let the rain lift you up, instead of bringing you down.