I love the rain.

This morning I woke up to rain-drops pattering on my roof and the window panes. It must have been windy too. As usual I put on my track bottoms and T-shirt for my trek up the H- hill at Taman Semarak as I noticed that the rain was gradually slowing down.

By the time I reached the foothill there was just a drizzle. however, that was sufficient to discourage a good number of trekkers. As I went up I met a guy who would still go up even if it rains, sheltering himself with an umbrella. He is a young man, possibly in his early forties. The first time he saw me going up in the rain without a raincoat or an umbrella, he was amazed at my refusal to use an umbrella. Then, i told him that I love walking in the rain as i have always done in my childhood days. So, there are times he would chide me for having no rain to enjoy with whenever the sky is clear.

I love the rain as I have a body which heats up pretty easily, thus helping to bring on the sweat fast and furious. You know, there are advantages as well as disadvantages when it comes to having a heat-boiler which is too efficient. During my younger days, sweating easily during courting times can be embarrassing. Who would like to hug someone as sweaty and wet as I am. Well, only those who truly love me, of course! So, I can spot the pretenders anytime. Still it is a disadvantage even for a lovable creature like me. As for the advantages, I have to leave it for another time.

Right! Back to the rain. Another thing good about the rain is its washing away all the dirt on our roads and paths. Besides that as it pours down, it cleans the air of dust and floating particles that could be toxic. Thinking of toxic substances, its the chemical fumes and particles in the air which give us acid rain. With cleaner air, our lungs have a better chance to rid itself of stale and toxic substance that we inadvertently suck in as we breathe.

Thinking of acid rain, I remember reading about a time when there was no chemicals in the air to cause acid rain, when rain contains something good for the plants and us, a mild dose of hydrogen peroxide which helps gives plants and us more oxygen in the air we breathe. In fact, when i read that, how i wished I could stretch out my tongue to take in some drops of rain that is not acidic, that contains hydrogen peroxide. That is now just a wish.

With cleaner air and a cooler morning, the hill is certainly a more welcoming place to me and my friends. With such an atmosphere, we are also more relaxed and that is an excellent start to any day. So, it is not difficult to understand why i love the rain, pouring down on my body, cooling it, sweeping along with it all my tensions and whatever nagging thoughts that remain. Rain is indeed so refreshing to our body. It is one of the reasons God gave us rain.

Oh, yes! I almost forget that I have always gone into the rain for another reason. To this day I have hardly suffered from a cold. Even if a cold did come along, it was just for a couple of hours. With the coming of the sun, the cold disappears. Well, that's how it is with me. Thank God for that. I believe it is also because of the immunity that i have cultivated from being constantly exposed to the rain. It is with this understanding, that I got my children to play in the rain when they were at the age of three and four, possibly five. And they are just as immune against the rain to this day. (I have already written about them being allowed to play in the rain in a much earlier post.)