Rain

Motto: The Sun, with all those planets revolving around it and dependent on it, can still ripen a bunch of grapes as if it had nothing else in the universe to do (Galileo)

Today, after several days of blue sky and hot weather, release of a heavy rain over Bucharest was decided on a very high level. By the intensity I would say it was an unanimous decision. It started abruptly and went on so intense that I would not be surprised if its efficiency levels raised beyond most expectations of the decision makers. It may have cleaned tons of dirt from streets, cars, buses and trams, stray dogs and any other usually dirty Bucharest items - in just a few minutes. Of course deep cleansing is still required, but most things will get quite a shiny look - at least for a while.

There was a secondary result, quite hard to notice for those categories which remain only with the polishing effect out of a heavy sudden summer rain. For those who genuinely love this simple and quite common natural phenomena, such a breakout is a moment of pure timelessness - our tiny but overactive lives are set on hold for a few minutes. It just sweeps away time and space. It is a window of fascination, with people stopping whatever they were doing, either to run and find shelter or just to watch that force of nature unraveling. It comes along with a perfect smell and with a symphony of sound and visual effects. Free spectacle with guaranteed front seat, no matter from which angle you watch it.

I realized today that heavy rain plays with time in a manner and with a frequency hardly comparable to anything else in our lives (and even more in its 'snow' version). We can always count on it to seemingly spoil plans or at least reshape our priorities. We are unhappy when it blocks us on airports or highways and delays us from reaching our destinations. On the other hand, it bring us closer to our families and friends when we are all stuck in the same place and we are forced to remember how to genuinely communicate. It has been 'accused' of favouring sleep and also some other (more active) bed-related pursuits. It is a famous cliché on which we can count in all romance movies to bring lovers together for their 'first time'. It is one of those things which we invoke when we don't have it and wish it goes away when it is too much. It is unpredictable and disloyal, it steals our attention every time we are on holiday and it diverts our conversations every other day (but we need to admit it also helps when we have no topic whatsoever).

Heavy rain stops the time, cleanse the matter, refreshes the mind, while at the same time generously gives back to Earth the very indispensable matter which is presumed to be the source of life on this planet. So many wonderful roles for just one natural process, which is allah so unpredictable, disloyal and moody. Thank God we have not figured out how to control it too much, and so it can continue undisturbed with its majestic power, without failing us on a planetary scale yet ...

Georgina