The constant pitter patter distracts from the natural hum of White Clay Creek. It floats gently down from the gray sky in thin sheets, masking the sounds of birds, people, and other wildlife, so it is the only thing I hear. It is cold, and I grip my raincoat a little tighter, regretting my lack of foresight to bring a sweatshirt. It falls to the earth, wrapping delicately around everything it touches. It cascades down thick slabs of rocks, pools at the base of towering trees, and brings life to every crevice of the forest. Eventually, the sound blurs together, until I’m no longer truly hearing it, and it becomes a distant noise in the background. Rain.

 

Depending on your perspective, the arrival of rain is both a blessing and a curse. Rain disrupts our daily lives, making us feel lethargic and tired. Today’s rain made me crave nothing more than to curl up in bed with Netflix and a warm blanket. Often, it causes us to alter our plans for the day. My own family has spent numerous rainy days running errands instead of our original plans to be outside. You would think that with so many modern advantages like rainboots, raincoats, and umbrellas that we wouldn’t shy away from rain so much. That we’d be able to stick to our original plans and feel fairly comfortable. But we don’t. We hear the word rain and we frown. We immediately brainstorm backup plans in case the meteorologists are correct. Somewhere along the way we began ignoring our desires to jump in a puddle, and we forgot how beautiful the rain can be.

 

Perhaps this is a byproduct of increasing urbanization. In a world of local agriculture, and in most of human history, rain is a blessing. Around the world, different cultures have prayers and rituals designed specifically to call upon the heavens to bring forth rain. Some, like many Native American tribes in what became the southwest United States, performed intricate dances to appease the G-ds. Others, like the San people of southern Africa, had shamans offer sacrifices. Regardless of ritual, people all over the world have prayed for rain for thousands of years. Rain brings forth life. It replenishes groundwater stores, hydrates soil, is crucial in the transportation of plant nutrients through xylem, and provides drinking water for both wildlife and people.

 

However, as people distance themselves from where their food comes from, the value of rain becomes lost in the shuffle. Increasingly, people are struggling to form the connection between precipitation and the food on their dinner plates. In one breath, they complain that the rain we’re finally having after a drought is ruining their weekend plans and that there isn’t enough of their favorite vegetable in stock at the grocery store. They don’t make the connection that drought results in lower crop yield and the return of rain benefits them. We live in a world where someone can go years without seeing a farm. As a result, we’ve forgotten how much we depend on the rain.

 

Water is the lifeblood of our planet. It deserves our respect. It is not living, but it is within every living thing. We take it for granted, having adopted the attitude of “out of sight out of mind” over time, even though it isn’t. Whether or not we acknowledge it, we can’t escape how much water is part of our lives. We can’t survive without it, yet we regard it as a nuisance, intruding on our days. Its arrival sparks endless complaints. Yet it is people who have intruded on water. We selfishly poison it, using it as our personal trash cans. We divert its natural pathways in favor of our needs, regardless of the needs of the earth. We take, but we do not give. We ignore the respect it commands, until it forces us to remember the destruction it can cause, shaking us from our stupor. Water leaves both life and death in its wake.

 

Humanity would do well to remember the value of water in our lives. It may interrupt our days and preclude us from our original plans, but it deserves our respect. So I may be cold and wet as I sit in White Clay Creek. I may wish I was in my warm bed wrapped in a blanket. But I am grateful for the rain, for every drop brings life. It is a never ending present from the earth to us.