Self-Portrait of Me: In the Barrens, In the Rain

The very good news is that the vernal ponds in the Scotia Barrens are full up again. I can report back and tell you this because I was there. I went and inspected the situation for myself. We had mist last week for a day or two, and then we got rain, which took all of our snow. On this day, we had it all: quick heavy snow, followed by sleet, then a mix, then rain.

I took my pink umbrella and headed for the Barrens after breakfast. It was raining some but not really heavily at the time. I was in my element. The raindrops were like music on my favorite little pond. I stood and watched the patterns and the circles, with a feeling of deep peace and satisfaction. I love the sounds and smells and patterns the rain makes; it refreshes my soul.

The pathways are wet in the woods and some parts are flooded. There is a second pond I didn't make it to because I'd have had to walk through water deeper than my shoes, and I didn't feel like having a miserable, soggy hike all the way back home.

So here is a photo I took while I was standing on the trail. That's my pink umbrella you see reflected beneath my feet, with trees all around me. It almost made me think of a boat, maybe a sampan. I laughed to imagine myself, on my little boat, floating out through the woods, happy as a clam, perhaps an island unto myself. I love the rain.

My soundtrack song. . . . The other night, I watched Moulin Rouge, one of Baz Luhrmann's Red Curtain Trilogy. I went through a phase when I first bought the movie where I watched it every week. Now I'm down to just a few times each year. I mean, who could ever get tired of Freedom, Beauty, Truth, and Love?

This latest time, when I saw Ewan McGregor and Nicole Kidman dancing and singing Your Song on the rooftops under a pink umbrella, it made me laugh, for I finally saw myself: me, with my happy pink umbrella, floating through worlds of wonder in the rain. Yes, I'm here, and I'm joyful, because the sky is playing my favorite song again: a musical interlude in the beautiful, beautiful rain.