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The house I called "home" from the time I was six until I got all grown up and finished college and got married and moved across the world to Kansas had a porch. Not just a porch, but a big one. Went from one end of the house to the other. Eventually my Daddy enclosed one end of it to make my Mother a "Florida room" (hmmm, in Georgia?) where she could kill grow her flowers. On the South end of the porch was a swing. You know the kind...big, wooden, held to a rafter by a strong chain. A girl could lie on that swing and imagine all sorts of things. She could travel the world and never leave the gentle swaying back and forth. She would sit in that swing with the "boyfriend of the day, week or month" however long he stayed around and sneak a kiss or just hold hands.
What made me think of that old swing was the way I was awakened this morning. About 0500 I was made aware of a storm passing through our area. The lightening was so bright and quick that I could see it with my eyes closed! The thunder rumbled for what seemed like several minutes at a time. Lucy, the dog that thinks she's a human, was curled up in a tight little ball at the bend of my knees as I lay on my side snuggled up against Hubby's back with the sheet pulled loosely across my shoulders. With a sigh of contentment, I tried to go back to sleep. Instead, I just lay there and listened to that wonderful storm as it dumped much needed rain on our part of the world.
I've written before of my love for storms. Not just any storm, but the kind that brews up for a few days and then comes 'a callin' here in the hills of North Georgia like an old friend who has stayed away for a while but returns to play catch up. Now tornados and hurricains are different. I like soft southern storms!
As I lay there listening, my mind took me on a trip back in time when I was a little girl and my world was free of problems, strife or worries. I didn't know or care about elections. Gas was something Daddy put in the car or lawn mower and never complained about the cost. It was cold in the winter and hot in the summer. Never heard of global warming and glaciers melting. It was a time of innocense and trust.
When a storm was approaching, Daddy would take my hand and we would go to the swing. He would explain how the clouds were formed and what made the raindrops fall and how lightening was made and what the thunder was. It just didn't seem like any of it could harm me. Sometimes we would get wet as the spray of rain hit our face as the wind teased us by blowing the moisture onto our face and hair. We didn't care! That what towels were made for! He would remind me that storms come in our life, too and we just have to have a safety net to endure them. I always felt safe sitting in that old swing with my Daddy's arm around me. I loved the smell of rain on a warm Summer evening. Made me think that is what Heaven will smell like.
Move ahead several years. I'm all grown up, married and have a little girl about three years old. We are visiting at my parent's house when a storm started brewing. I grabbed her hand and started out the door to the swing. We sat there and I explained to her how the clouds formed, the rain fell and how lightening and thunder were marvelous fireworks across the sky. She snuggled up against me and proclaimed that she, too "just loved these storms"! I felt the torch had been passed. My daughter, too, would grow up loving storms and not being afraid.
Seems like I've weathered some personal storms lately. I don't have a big old porch swing, but I do have a wonderul deck with chairs, umbrella and lots of flowers. I do have a wonderful quilt made by the hands of some special people and I can wrap it around me and feel all warm and safe. I do have the love of a good man and the devotion of a precious little dog. I do have a family that may seem dysfunctional to the rest of the world but to me is quite normal.
The storms will pass. I will continue to snuggle up in the swing beneath the loving arm of my Daddy...even if only in my mind. I will not be afraid.
Another thing about storms...when they pass, they leave a signature. It is not seen by everyone. It is only seen by those who look for it and who are on the back side of the storm. It is called a rainbow. For every storm, there is a rainbow. We may not all see it, but it is there. Kinda like good friends and people who love us. We may not always see them, but they are there. Some are across town, some are at the other end of a computer in a land called Blog. Some are only present in the memories of our heart. Each one special in a time of storm.
Hope ya'll have a porch swing somewhere in the memories of your life that will help you when the storms come by. Hope you can see the rainbow and have a bunch of friends who share the colors with you.
Mz Scarlett...singing "Somewhere, over the rainbow" (slightly off key and with apologies to Judy Garland!)
will be able to sleep good tonight. Thanks