Seeing through the Rain

Do you enjoy the rain?

I love a good rainy day! My husband really doesn't like the rain and for good reason. For him, the rain is a burden, a nuisance. Rain and wheelchairs don't really mix very well. He likes rain as long as he is home watching a movie or taking a cozy nap. For me, the rain is invigorating. I feel energized and excited when it rains. Sure, a good nap is always nice during the rain, but being awake and alert during a good rainstorm is special. I find that my head is clearer and I'm more focused when it's raining. I wonder if that's because the world seems to slow down just a little bit when it rains. I have a hard time focusing sometimes, and when it's raining the distractions tend to fade away. I love shopping in the rain. As a kid, growing up in the south, I would pretend the rain was snow. Christmas shopping while it's raining is one of my favorite memories. To me, it doesn't really feel like Christmas shopping without the rain. The rain was my substitute for snow. 

I love to see the yard speckled with drops of rain. My garden sure loves the rain. It has been raining a lot lately, which is so needed, and my sunflowers are thankful. In fact, they are starting to bloom. I really need to get to work on transplanting them from their air pruning containers to the yard before they get too big! It's just so hot here and you really have to do your gardening before 9 am or you'll regret it. I need to share some photos of my garden. I have two peppers so far and a fairly nice size cabbage head forming. Right now I'm growing beets, beans, squash, cabbage, peppers, and sunflowers. I was a little late in starting the seeds for this season, but I'm pleasantly surprised to see that some of them are really taking to the heat and producing a small harvest. 

Once it stops raining, I'll snap some pictures to share with you all. We used to have a hydroponic system, but with the last hurricane, we took it down and haven't really gotten around to putting it back up yet. We are growing everything in air pruning bags. The hydroponic system worked really well for Kyle because everything was at his level. With the bag system we are using this year, only I can tend to the garden. He doesn't seem to mind though. The heat is killer and he's busy with work right now. I'm enjoying having something to take sole ownership of and I'm pretty proud of the work I have done. 

The only thing about the rain that slows me down is the fact that I can go out and do my daily walks... okay maybe not so much as daily... but my goal is to walk daily and I have good intentions. I want to work on getting more steps in and exercising more. I'm planning on walking with one of my friends from church this week. Hopefully the rain will allow us to do that. If not, then I guess I should probably use my treadmill... I really do like walking, in fact just recently I walked seven miles one morning. I just need to get motivated again and get back to it. Does anybody else have a problem getting motivated when it's so hot outside? What do you do for exercise when you can't get outside? 

I'm thankful for the rain and the peacefulness that comes with it. The rain is just what my heart needed today. 

I hope everyone else is having a blessed Tuesday and finds joy in the simple and beauty in God's design.