The Carolina rain is like no other; you can see it starting out over the distant salt marshes. It makes the view seem soft as if it were a watercolor in soft pastels. The colors are muted and the lines faded, more dreamlike rather than sharp and clear, as if we were looking through a veil of fine linen.
A rainy morning can calm our spirit and slow us down, urging us to stop and reflect upon its beauty and serenity. A book is always better when read on a front porch with a gentle misty rain muting the noise of the world and the gentle rocking of the high back rocking chair. Time truly slows down, and you seem to have all the time you need.
You notice the smell of the Gardenias and brilliant colors of the Hibiscus. You realize that those beautiful sounds are the birds singing, a symphony of tones and pitches. The Carolina rain has a fragrance like Bergamot, Pine, and Cedar.
If it were a perfume you would wear it to remind you of this moment in time.
It is a time I come back to often when I hear the rain. It reminds me of a young boy playing on the porch and the rain pattering on the tin roof or getting caught walking on the beach. You say I am already wet so let us walk in the rain and splash in the puddles. It is like the first time we walked hand in hand under the umbrella, alive in the moment without a care of tomorrow.
The Carolina rain is an important part of our life and culture in the south. It is part of the painting, just as the oak tree and salt marshes provide the landscape of our life in the Lowcountry. Rain feeds our rivers, helps our flowers to bloom, and gives us a reason to sit on the front porch.
We live a fuller life when we slow down and notice the beauty around us. If we ignore the majesty of life, the good and noble part of us goes unnourished. Take the time to embrace life and the moments remembered and cherish them for a lifetime.
Apart from the fact that I too love rain on a hot day in the South, better if you can read a good book in peace, I am pleased to return to the topic about memories. Our life is full of memories. Each of us has a very intimate relationship with them. Only we can really know what we felt, our emotions. Only we know our past. Only we are the keepers of our memories.
We every day write our story, our life. Remembering, we do reread it.
Thanks Larry for drawing our attention to this interesting subject.
I can see the beauty in Carolinas As you describe the salt marshes, the haze, the trees, the river. I saw the Carolinas many times from the back of a motorcycle, As we travel there 12 out of the 20 years we vacationed in that mode. I commented to a friend of mine who was from North Carolina about every house having a front porch. A front porch with real furniture on it. She told me that every one she knew at a front porch and they knew how to use it. Thank you for sharing this lovely memory with us.
Thank you my friend, the low country is a very special place. It just got to crowded for me. It was a very small town when I was growing up.
Thank you my friend, the low country is a very special place. It just got to crowded for me. It was a very small town when I was growing up. It was time to leave.
I love the rain and morning rain the most. Thank you for your feedback
What a wonderful word picture you painted Larry. It brings all of our senses to bear upon the heaven sent rain that definitely resurrects memories. Thanks!
Thank you my friend. We had three solid days of rain so I thought I should write about it
Larry — I will never be able to read about or watch the rain when I don’t think about its cleansing power, its power to liberate as depicted here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8jRRZPGa3fU.
Thank you for a beautiful moment.