Indoor Recess

I heard a strange sound this morning. At first I thought it was something leaking in the kitchen. Then I realized it was coming from outside.

Rain.

The prospect of a day of rain when contemplating life with three year olds is a bit daunting. Young children need to move. I guess today we'll see what happens if we put on our rain coats and rain boots and go exploring. It could be fun. It could be messy. It could be a whole new world. Or it could be a disaster. I guess we'll find out.

I don't think I will ever feel the same about rain after what happened in Ellicott City. If the rain seems even remotely heavy I find myself worrying about what that will mean for Main Street recovery. Rain just isn't rain anymore. It's an adversary.

Most of the time we live our lives as though changes in the weather do not affect us. We have climate control, strong houses and offices, cars that can get around under most meterological conditions. We forget what it was like when humans lived their lives dependent on every change of light and dark, sun and rain. We live in blithe defiance of the language of nature.

Except when nature breaks through, and speaks louder than our "civilized" attempts to outwit it.

In Howard County we have a lot of thinking to do about rain, and safety, and how people fit in to the landscape and the natural world. We need to be mindful of the limits of our own accomplishments and respectful of what nature has to say about all of this. We need to pay attention. We're much more attuned to pushing forward with our own needs and wants. We've lost that healthy respect for our natural environment that used to be an essential for survival.

As for me, my day may be full of splashing in puddles and changing muddy clothes. Or it could be an indoor dance party. For us "survival" is a simple matter of getting through a school day with a sense of fun intact. We can avoid the rain or embrace the rain.

But it will still be there.