A Run in the Rain

Getting out of our favorite breakfast place Paul in Gemayzeh on that furious windy morning was not easy on Saturday, December 11, 2010! It was as if Mother Nature were looking for someone, chasing the one responsible for preventing her from raining all that time!

It seemed to us that she found him on departure when rancor was spilled on the man for what he did to her and her beloved Environment! Vigorous winds were howling at their threatened destiny, celebrating without further ado, their reunion with the skies, hugging and kissing the grey pale clouds… as if telling them, “Finally, we’re dancing together again, wildly blending in the rhythms of the lighting!” projecting all the fears into mercy of holy rains!

Squeezing herself under my umbrella, my wonderful mother was holding on to my sense of finding the way to the car as she clutched my arm with power. I, on the other hand, was wearing all my winter clothes from the off-white mohair cowboy hat to the rain coat and rain boots! I was trying to merge myself, my mom, and the umbrella swiftly into the fighting rains and winds without raging any or going against their will.

Left, down, right... My head and arms would sway unconditionally. My all would only diverge along with whatever the winds decided. Surrender is power in such moments until we reach the ultimate goal- that silver grey refuge, my lovely Peugot! A few seconds would separate my hurrying mom and I from complete safety. Instead, I found myself totally alone under that umbrella – without my hat and without my mom!

Quickly, I turned around to see mom chasing the floating hat in the demo river of a flooding Gemayzeh. Mother was racing so willingly, fighting against the tides of Mother Nature, when my mohair hat was trying to elope with the wind…Finally, she grabbed it like she won a first prize in a world competition for sustainability! Stuck in traffic caused by the heavy showers of the storm, people watched the event with excitement. I could read the word “grotesque” in the eyes of the unexpectedly large audience.

In moments of spontaneity like those, rapture and elation rapidly conquer the hearts without notice. We couldn’t stop laughing and being loud for several minutes, even after I tugged myself and the umbrella into the car, and after my mom finally made it safely to the car with my hat...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=htef8Am-XxU