Candy’s Corner

By Candy Owens

How beautiful is the rain!

After the dust and heat. In the broad and firey street. How it clatters along the roofs, like the tramp of hoofs. How it gushes and struggles out from the overflowing spout. Across the window-pane it pours and pours; and swift and wide, like the river down the gutter roars. The rain, the welcome rain!

I was sitting at my desk yesterday and happened to look out the window and noticed that it was raining. It looked like one of those beautiful soft summer rains. I thought to myself and hoped that the weather would clear up before time to go home so that I would not mess my hair up, get wet, and get mud in my car. As luck would have it, the rain got heavier and louder. Before long, the Lightning began to strike and the Thunder let out a roar. The electricity went out in my office for a minute. When it was time to go home, I ran to my car and got soaking wet, my hair melted into Cotton Candy, and I got mud in my car. I was not a happy camper. On the drive home, I started to have thoughts of the power going out where I could not get into the garage, cook dinner, do laundry, watch Television, take a shower, blow-dry my hair, and et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.

Once I pulled into my driveway, the rain had slowed down, my garage door opened, and the Electricity was in full operation. When I was safely in the garage, I got out of the car and looked out at the beautiful soft rain trickling from the sky. It made me think back to the days when I was a little girl who loved to play in the rain. If there was no Thunder or Lightning, my Mother would let my sister and I play outside on the driveway. We would ride our bikes, dribble our basketball, hop on our hippity hops, hula hoop, grab our umbrellas and dance around like Gene Kelly in “Singin in the Rain”, put on our bathing suits and turn on the water sprinklers in the yard, and my favorite of them all, was walking down to the edge of our yard barefoot and kicking and splashing water at my sister along with the neighborhood kids. I can still hear my Mother yelling out the front door for us to get out of the gutter before we got “Ground Itch”. My sister would scare me and tell me that I would get worms and bugs in my feet from walking bare foot in the gutter when it rained. I never thought to ask her why she wouldn’t get worms and bugs in her feet if she was walking and splashing water while barefoot along-side me. I’ve learned through the years that that is what older sisters do. They make you crazy!

If a bad storm came and our Electricity went out, my sister and I would get a little scared but our parents tried to make it fun. I can remember my Father would get his flashlight and go out in our garage and get the old Kerosene Hurricane lamps that belonged to his Grandmother and placed them in the Kitchen, Dining Room, Family Room, and the Bathrooms while my Mother would light candles. My Father would turn on his radio and listen to the weather, music, and his favorite: “Radio Free Europe”. We thought that was so cool to hear people from all over the world speaking. Hey!...that was something for the late 1960’s and early 1970’s.

After a while my sister and I would get a little bored so my parents would have us play cards, tell jokes, stories, do shadow puppets on the wall, sing songs, dance, color by flashlight, and tell Ghost Stories… until I got scared. (Then it was time to change the subject.)

When it was time to eat, my parents would go in the Kitchen and build us a picnic “fit for a King”. We would have something like: Ham and Pineapple sandwiches, pork and beans right out of the can, potato chips, cookies, and if we were real lucky, my parents would put “Jet Puffed” Marshmallows on a fork and light them with their lighters so we could have a roasted yummy treat. Hey!!!! How cool was that?

When it was time for bed our parent would put a lamp in my Bedroom so that I would not be afraid. Soon, my sister would join me under the pretense of: “protecting me from the Boogie-Man!” HA! HA! When we woke up the next morning, the sunshine was out and all-the world was good again. My Sister and I had wonderful tales to share with our friends about our picnic by candlelight, the games that we played, and the Ghost Stories we told in the dark.

We were too young at the time to think about all the things that parents worry about when there is a bad storm, like: A leak in the roof, Lightning striking the house, all the food in the Fridge going bad, the Electric Garage doors not opening, and no Electricity to get ready for work the next day.

It made me realize one more time, that we as adults need to learn to not sweat the small stuff! We need to relax and enjoy our lives. We need to laugh more and make the best of every situation. As-long-as we have our health, a roof over our heads, family and friends, and our Faith, WE HAVE IT ALL!!!!!!!!!!