My (Some Sort of) Ode to the Rain
An old composition I've written 12 years ago printed under Youngblood column of Philippine Daily Inquirer! I typed my name curious to find what's out there attributed to me and this is what I got. Funny, I sound like a tra-la-la! This was actually my second piece. After I saw this, I tried searching for the other one but can't find it. Maybe they only keep in archive those from year 2000 and up.
I remember writing this not only for my love of rain but rain in UP. Because of its many trees and greens, it's enchanting that when it rains, I feel like I'm a nymph specifically in white flowy sheer satin gown inside a rain forest. ;p
I found a few typos and I thought I'd revise a little. Below is the whole article with mininal changes.
Walking in the Rain
Don't you just love the rain?
In my college days in the University of the Philippines Diliman, I used to walk barefoot from the waiting shed to my house when it rained. I'd get off the ikot jeep, take off my shoes and carry them like a pair of lost kittens because I hate soggy shoes except if they were my sister's. ;p
The asphalt tickles my soles. Its feel thrills and excites me like a child waiting for his turn for dirty ice cream from the sorbetero. The scent of the wet trees and grass is as refreshing as the green, renewing my wearing soul.
Who doesn't sleep soundly to the rhythmic tapping of a gentle shower on the roof, like a loving mother lulling her newborn baby to deep slumber by humming tunes, as the grass and trees sashay to the wind? Like a cleaning agent washing away the dirt and grime, the rain washes away all of one's worries and sorrows.
I don't like bringing an umbrella, although most people do, people who can't leave the house without one. I would rather be caught in the rain than bring a cumbersome stick here and there.
Sure, I can't keep a shoes for a year and there isn't a month I'm without a cold. But what the heck, when it drizzles I like to think that I'm a free spirit wandering like a lost soul in this time and space. Or a fairy in Neverland minding nothing and nobody.
But of course, that's just the imaginative me speaking. I am a nervous wreck who likes to keep things in order and who likes to think that I can control everything and anything. I embody responsibility. The rain makes me forget that side of me.
My love for the rain started as hate. My birthday falls in November. When I was in grade school my 3 consecutive birthdays were ruined by typhoons. Nobody came to my party except for my nearest neighbors,3 kids who happened to be my younger brother's playmates. My friends and classmates who lived in the same subdivision couldn't come. Their parents wouldn't let them, it was raining very hard.
But later in life, I learned to appreciate the rain. I don't know exactly when or how, but I did.
I suppose no child hasn't gone dancing in the rain despite stern warnings from his elders. When I was small, I went out to play in my nylon panties. I was having fun with the boys when I realized my undies were see-through so I ran back home before anyone noticed.
In the province during summer, my cousins and I would shout and chant and implore the gods to make the rain pour harder and longer so we could stay forever in the rain. We did the same even at times when we were confined inside the house and not allowed to play or bathe in the rain. We found contentment just watching a the downpour.
Drizzles regularly attended my pre-school, grade school, highschool and even college graduations, although they were never invited. Old folks said, they're a blessing and I couldn't agree more.
I cannot help but smile when the rain comes. There's something about it that brings out the child in me.
