Zack Vayda and a Morning Shower

In our bathroom, there is just one small rectangular window in the shower. Since I like hot showers I usually keep the window open to vent out the steam, which is exactly what I did this morning. 

Outside, the single drops of rain became a steady whisper, followed not long after by a low roar. It was loud enough to match the volume coming from the shower itself. I stood in the shower letting the hot water hit my face when I felt just a couple drops of water much too cold to have come from the shower. Outside, the rain was coming down in such force that some water was getting through the mesh screen. The window pane opens downward, and fully open it sits perpendicular with the opening. The angle created a trampoline for a select few droplets to bounce off the pane and onto my shoulder. 

The contrast of temperatures on my skin got my attention. I turned to the small window, stood on the tips of my toes so that my chin was resting on the window pane. The drops of rain continued to jump onto my face as other droplets created perfect Tetris shapes in the squares of the mesh screen. I could smell the wet pavement from the road and the dampening wood and bark from the trees and bushes. A neighbor had cut his grass recently, adding yet another flavor to the palate. 

As the clouds began to part, the dark forest greens came alive with shades of bright neons. The wall of grey rain began to sparkle once the sun was able to gain some ground. The cool air from the rain continued to play across my face and neck as the heat and steam from the shower warmed up the rest of me.

I don't know how long I stood there, but my fingers had begun to shrivel by the time I turned the water off and stepped out. 

Now it's sunny. The kids have come back outside, the birds are chirping and singing again and the last of the water droplets on the leaves are drying up and disappearing. In an hour or two, there will be no sign that it ever rained in the first place. All evidence of the event will be gone, and it will be as if it never happened. 

But it did happen, because I was there. I felt it, and it changed me. It changed my mood, it changed my point of view. The cool, refreshing drops are still landing on my face and the smells are still in my nose. The rain changed me, which will change my connection with others, which will then change their connections.

Soon everyone will feel the cool rain and smell the wet concrete.

And in that way, this morning will never be forgotten.