During this 7 day challenge, I’ve been drawing my folded slips of paper the night before each new day, due to the fact that some hygge activities require more thought and planning than others. For example, if I drew “Watch a sunrise and a sunset” the day of, I guarantee that I would have already missed the sun coming up.
So when I drew Experience a Thunderstorm While Sipping Tea, I immediately checked the weather forecast. Although rain was indeed in the forecast, I had concerns. Lately our chances of rain have evaporated without the hoped for precipitation. I went to bed with a back up plan. If the thunderstorms didn’t materialize, I was positive I could locate a video of a thunderstorm in progress somewhere on the web.
I need not have been concerned. I awoke to a gentle rain that soon became a downpour. Time to brew a cup of tea!
I carried my hot tea…lemon balm, thyme and fennel seeds…out onto the front deck, to sit in the porch swing and enjoy nature’s show. The air was cool and fresh smelling. Rain pelted the sidewalks and ground and beaded up on the leaves of my beloved redbud tree.
Although my weather app radar showed thunderstorms in the area, I only experienced the steady cleansing rain. However, my fraidy cat, Shy Boy, must have heard the distant rumble of thunder with his sensitive hearing. He bolted for the front door, ears laid back, body low to the porch floor. He hid in the house, which is his usual response to thunder, fireworks, the weekly trash truck! More thunderstorms were in the forecast for the afternoon, but I chose to seize the opportunity that the morning showers brought.
I sipped my hot tea, savored the coziness of the moment, and watched the neighbor kids frolic in the rain. They had the right idea, and kudos to their mom for allowing them the freedom to play in the rain. Their evident joy and enthusiasm made me smile.
I enjoyed that sacred time, watching the rain, listening to the rain, as I sipped my herbal tea. Even falling from the sky as rain, water soothes. It nourishes the thirsty earth and the parched soul, bestows peace and calm, and slows the breathing and heart rate. Water…whether it is rain, a river or the sea…reminds me to stay fluid and to flow.
This morning it was good that I prepared my tea and experienced the rain shower that was offered to me. Those afternoon thunderstorms never arrived. They are now predicted to roll in at midnight.
Listen to 30 seconds of bliss.