Hurricanes and Heath Bars

It's a really rainy day here in Houston and I have to say that I love it.  I just made a wonderful cinnamon crumble cake and sat on our back porch with my little one and a cold glass of milk.  We ate our hot out-of- the-oven cake and listened to the sound of the rain as we watched Chip & Dale (our resident squirrel friends) chase each other through the trees.  It was magical.  It made me nostalgic for my childhood days growing up in Gulfport, Mississippi when my mother would make rain an excuse for grabbing the frozen Heath bars that she stashed in our freezer & would grab me to go sit in the car to listen to the sound of the rain as it hit the top of the car.  Good times.  As an adult I wonder if those Heath bar/car sessions were more an excuse to eat heath bars in the middle of one of her burger patty/cottage cheese diets, than time to listen to the rain, but really, who cares?  I was a kid and I thought it was cool!
Mississippi was a short and sweet time in my childhood.  We only lived there a few years but I have fond memories of those heath bars and hurricanes.  Hurricanes are fun for kids who don't know the real dangers and just think it's fun to have a no school day topped off by Mom and Dad getting out all the flash lights followed by tucking us into the central, long window-less hallway in our home.  The day would include ghost stories, jumping on mattresses that were placed in the hallway for padded protection in the event our roof was blown away, playing dodge the tennis ball in the dark hallway, and lots of junk food!  I mean really...does it get any better than that when you're 7?!
So, I know a lot of folks don't care for rainy days but I use it as an excuse to slow down, reflect on days gone by and connect with my kids by making new memories with them!  I hope someday they'll make a new rainy day tradition with their children and harken back to the days when they'd sit on the back porch of the house with Mom and eat cinnamon crumble cake, drink cold milk, and watch the squirrels dance in the trees through the rain...yes, that would be nice!

Which reminds me of a favorite quote, "Life's not about waiting for the storm to pass...It's about learning to dance in the rain!"
I hope you dance!