Reflections on Rain

I admit, I am pretty much a fair weather rider.  I prefer not to go out in the rain.  It’s not that I haven’t ridden in rain before – I did the Harbor to the Bay AIDS ride (125 miles) twice in the pouring rain.  (It was not as fun as the sunny rides although it felt like an accomplishment.)  And there are not many cyclists who haven’t been caught in the occasional thunderstorm.  But for the most part I pass if rain is in the forecast.

Yet yesterday I went out in the rain.  We are on tour and just have our bikes for transportation.  I wanted to get out and get some coffee and go to the book store.  So I donned my rain gear and went out.  I think if there weren’t so many cars on the road to worry me, I probably would have found it refreshing.  It was good to get outside and being in the elements is a part of living the bici life.  Certainly, I like to feel the sun on my back on a bright summer’s day.  Yet, rain has a different personality.

Sunny days are very yang—all you want to do is be active and go.  Rainy days are yin – where the movement is inward.   They are often times of reflection and rest.  Rain can also be purifying.  It cleans the air and has the potential to purify the spirit.  I expect I would not appreciate the sunny days as much without the contrast of the rainy ones.  Sometimes the rain and the darkness is too much for me.  I have Seasonal Affective Disorder and the winters, and long stretches of rain are hard on my mood.  I try to remember that rain is necessary.  After all, the flowers need it.  It is also necessary to stop and turn inward at times.  Reflection allows for a certain clarity sometimes. 

And going out in it reminds me that I am alive and part of the bigger cycle somehow.  Although, I still hope that today it will clear and that the sun will come out – at least for a little while.