Rainy Day

It was the most amazing rainy day today. It just about rained for three hours straight (and then some more off and on late afternoon through evening.) A monumental feat for Utah, not for Oregon. I lived in Oregon and England for some of my childhood, and it took YEARS of living in Southern Utah before I came to appreciate rain again.

Here are some things that, beyond the obvious (such as, maybe the always-dreaded drought will be vanquished because of this storm), I appreciated about the rain today:

1) That fresh RURAL dessert-rain smell. (Not be confused with a Vegas rain smell--it has a hint of the smell I am referring to, but with Vegas mixed in.)
2) The rain finally washed the nasty smudges from my windshield. (I won't describe them to you, that would be...unpleasant.)
3) The children got to see their first wild snails at ages 5 and 3 because the rain encouraged them to come out of hiding. (Slimy, but still cool. They were by the car and we had to work hard not to run over them. We cheered for them after we backed out without crushing them.)
4) The children got to dance in the rain. (I liked hearing them giggle and I didn't have to get wet).
5) I got to listen to thunder and see some lightning. (I used to love to watch lightning storms off my parents' deck. Still do actually, just don't get the opportunity).
6) Related to number 5 but deserves it's own recognition: We got to drive through the storm and watch the lightning. (Nate and I had a very memorable date once "chasing" a storm in Cedar City. We listened to the Sister Hazel CD, Chasing Daylight.)
7) Our next door neighbors' yard looked like an English garden. (Our yard looked nice, but....it needs a little more love from us I would say...)

ps. I did not take the picture. It is meant to be a general representation of the desert rain.