Remember that old song from the sixties? It came to mind as mariner sat by the window the other day watching it rain. The song spoke of romantic issues but what came to mind was the orderliness of rain. What humans know as rain, which has been around since the Precambrian age, is a simple thing. Chemically, it is just water and will freeze when it is cold enough. Humidity (melted water) is evaporated into the warm layers of a weather system and returns to a solid form (water or ice) when it is cool enough, falling rhythmically to the ground. No warm-bodied cells manage it, no creature commands it, no mountain owns it. It just falls – listen to the rhythm of the falling rain . . . even windblown storms can’t disrupt that rhythm.

Humans often think of rain as an interference to the otherwise motivated ‘orderliness’ of human activity. Mariner sat by the window long enough to forget his orderly life and to be comforted by something that was 100% natural. No man made technology, no economic motivations, no political or sociological influence. Just rain, with that soft beat as it hits the solid ground.

Rain continues to do its simple thing, regardless of humans messing with the atmosphere; the rain may ride different weather patterns caused by human intervention, but that rhythm prevails.

The next time it rains, stop everything and listen to the rhythm of the falling rain. There is peace to be taken from its simplicity, honesty, and that the planet still controls the behavior of rain.

Ancient Mariner