Rain and Wind

We waited up all night.... well past 2 AM. That's when Elizabeth went to bed. But, no rain at that time. Though the wind was blowing.

Finally, the rains came in torrents. The wind was loud and it blew the trees into a frenzy. It seemed their branches would fly off! Spyder was so incredibly excited that he could barely contain himself. He kept running back and forth between the plate glass door in the other room and Elizabeth's bedroom window. Unfortunately for her, in order to get to her window, we have to leap from her bed. Spyder is so enthusiastic he runs right across her legs when he is on the way to her window. Luckily she didn't wake up. I think the rain sings her to sleep.


I sat up in the window with him so I could explain all the intricacies of rain. Rain comes from the sky, but it is the same as what comes from our water bowl. It has a different smell, a smell of the sky and the clouds that pass by. It tastes of wildness and that flavor comes from the clouds who pull up the flavor from the earth to the sky.



I pointed out to Spyder that he is a very special cat because he wears the sky color in his one eye, and the gold of the sun in the other. I reminded him that he has a sacred cat name that his mother gave to him. He says he remembers. It was "Morning Sky". I thought that was funny, because in the mornings he is too asleep to even welcome the morning sun. Maybe his mother should have named him "Sky at Sunset", but who am I to differ from her. I named all my kittens with sacred names, and they come from the deep earth wisdom we all possess. So, his mother would not have been wrong in the name she gave him.

Sometimes when the clouds come down to the earth and become fog, you can sniff the same smell as the rain drops. We need to recognize the rain for it's own being and the purpose it serves in our lives. We would die without it, my mother once told me. And I know she was telling the truth. After all, she had spent all her life outside and was only captured when I had not even opened my eyes. We were newborn kittens then, and didn't understand her howling and grief. Oh how she missed being outside.

Spyder didn't understand why the rain appeared. He wondered if it would go on forever. I explained that if the rain would go on forever it would not be a good thing. When the raindrops fall on us, we get wet. Some cats don't mind this, some cats do. I recall Jeffery telling Ninja and I that Keli loved the rain, and any kind of water that sprinkled or fell upon her. She even enjoyed baths. But if the rain falls forever, then not even Keli would continue to enjoy it. There must be a time for rain and a time for dryness. Each has it's own purpose. Spyder just didn't understand this, so I stopped trying to explain it, and just told him we could enjoy watching it for it's own sake, without asking why it exists.

Soon, morning came and we were all still awake. As the sun rose the rain ceased. We all had the ultimate pleasure of watching the sun embrace all the raindrops clinging to the tree leaves. What a spectacular sight to watch the trees turn into more beauteous beings with such lovely decorations adorning them. They were actually shimmering in the joy of it.

Ninja wasn't all that interested. He said "Rain is rain, and air is air, and wind is wind. It is all zen to me!"

I don't understand what he meant, but it is interesting to see how peaceful he can be about it all. I used to meditate on the rain. But with Spyder around, it is nearly impossible with him running from window to window and asking so many questions!

If you perceive rain in her eyes
and thunder in her soul,
Point towards the moon
and let her sink in the magic.
Let the moonlight coat her.


From the poem, Where Forever Lasts
by Ruku Taneja
Mumbai,India
July 3 2009