The back porch

It's raining again. I guess that's what it does here in the Spring. All weekend, rain, rain, rain. With a few days of sun, the rain just couldn't stay away. It's back again for a few more days. I don't mind, though.

A rainy evening is hard to beat, in my opinion. A cool, breezy, lazy evening. I'm sitting on our back porch, reading Self magazine, sipping a Diet Dr. Pepper (a recent fav)and listening to the rain rush down the gutters. I like the quietness of our back yard, the peace, even if it's not completely silent. I like that it's almost a hiding place in a busy, house-filled neighborhood. I like that I'm nearly hidden by the canopy of leaves and branches covered the deck.

The breeze is brushing my face and twisting my hair. It's also rushing through the leaves on the trees. I like the sound of rain trickling down the leaves. The rainy haze surrounds me, the neighborhood. The soft glow of the street lights can barely be seen.

Each house around us has a few lights on. I like how randomly the lit windows shine light into my back yard. Fixing dinner, talking at the dining room table, giving the kids a bath, watching the TV, reading in bed... their lives unfold in the evening rain, in my mind, on my back porch.

The colors of a rainy evening amazes me. How does the sky get that gray, but still look so blue? And just as those green leaves shine and burst with color on a sunny day, they take on a whole new green with drops of rain resting on them. The bush of bright white flowers seems to glow in the dark. I'm constantly amazed at God's creativity.

Going, going, gone. The light of day has faded into a hazy, moonless night. I think I'll go enjoy the sound of rain and the beauty of solitude. I will gaze into my back yard and watch all the lights go out, one by one. The night seems a little shorter on a rainy night, on my back porch. Don't you wish you were here with me?