AND THE RAINS CAME

There is nothing better than seeing children splash around a flooded street.  We received so much rain Tuesday that I was waiting for Noah to pass by.  So, my question is this.  Isn’t it supposed to be March winds and then April Showers? And aren’t the showers supposed to disburse over the entire month and not land in one lump sum?  Early Tuesday morning, just in time for school and work, the Lord drained the heavenly lake.  I'm surprised we didn't see the entire cast of water creatures come tumbling down.  Maybe one of those angelic children forgot and left the celestial hose on or some angelic mama got distracted filling that sacred bathtub letting it overflow (surely angel children get dirty tumbling all over the clouds). Whatever, it made an impact here.  Somebody was angry.  We had wind, hail, lightning, and tornados around the state. It was scary. Gumbo tried to get inside my skin from hugging me so close. We had chairs put into the bathroom just in case.

I expected the water to come up to our house because of the amount in the streets. Being a proud Louisiana man, I imagined I saw old man Thibodeaux passing each house on his pirogue shouting, “How’s your mama and dem.  Ya’ll okay, sha?” He was followed by alligators and other critters.  Made me feel safe knowing the Cajun Navy was on duty.

 So, me being me, when the danger of lightning was over, I took off my shoes, stood at the door, paused on the front porch, and waved to this old friend.  Then I proceeded in the water.  It was so cold, that the first rush of water up past my ankles made me shiver.   Or as my friend might say, “Oh, sha, I got the frisson, me.”

A flood (pardon the pun) of memories fought for attention in my mind as I wandered in the water.  I remembered the days as a young child playing in the puddles, splashing each one as I passed.

 I remembered going to friends' houses when it was raining and we would roll up our blue jeans above our knees and head out to the park without umbrellas, laughing and joking as we got soaking wet running and playing in the rain, getting muddy from head to toe.

 I remembered holding hands with a girlfriend as we walked in a light rain in the almost dark oblivious to our surroundings as we whispered sweet nothings to each other.

 I also remembered walking in the rain with a close friend who was troubled about her grades in college and returning to the campus to discover that John Kennedy had been shot in Dallas.  A terrible memory.

A favorite memory was walking in the rain with my wife at Long Leaf Vista and crawling under a canopy of pine as if we were the only two in the world.

Tuesday though, I was like a child again laughing and splashing around in the street.  Just me doing my thing.

People stood on their porches and stared. Some murmured things I'm not privy to share.  It was total freedom.  I was reminded of the Negro spiritual, “Wade in the water.  Wade in the water, children.  Wade in the water, God's gonna trouble the water.”

            The rain and destruction across the land has been horrific; so many homes and families destroyed, and we wonder if this is the end, but then I’m reminded of the verse in Genesis 9:11 where God made a covenant with Noah: “Never again will all life be destroyed by waters of a flood; never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth.”

Today, I am awake to a beautiful blue sky and sunshine that seems to make the earth feel alive and well, with a crispness in the air that makes you want to strike out on a long hike.  Life does go on.  Like the song says, “Gray skies are gonna clear up, put on a happy face; brush off the clouds and cheer up, put on a happy face.”   

So, I pray for those who were in the path of the horrible storm.  I pray for the families that lost everything or someone they loved.

This is just me doing my thing and some of this thing is pure fiction, but I did enjoy playing in the street in my mind. 

I hope you are safe and well today and remember that God has your back, no matter what.

© Nippy Blair 2015. Posts and pictures on this blog cannot be copied, downloaded, printed, or used without the permission of the blog owner, Nippy Blair.