Inspired by Raindrops

Posted on by Victoria

I love musing about the symbolism of rain and raindrops. I wrote about my sweet sister’s love of the B.J. Thomas song, “Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head” a while back. Lisa is one of the most courageous humans I know as she navigates complicated memories of love and loss – mixed-up recollections from her head and heart given her many disabilities. Lisa loves rain and so do I. So did our father who popped to mind last week as I reflected on the power of pausing to consider a few delicate and determined raindrops.

Often perceived as a foretelling of renewal, rain is a reminder of nature’s ebb and flow and the cadence of life. My affinity for precipitation must be a trait I picked up from my dad. When I was small, we bonded over our preoccupation with storm watching.  He loved lifting his head to the heavens, mesmerized by weather fronts – everything from fierce twister-producing thunderclouds to soft, rhythmic sprinkles. Time and time again, I saw my dad pause for rain.  Never rushing by; he’d slow down to bask in the wonder of watching the heavens weep and we’d often sit quietly together, with my head resting on one shoulder, Lisa’s on the other.

When I grew older, I enjoyed learning about the cultural and spiritual aspects of rain.  The obvious metaphors and imagery of rain as a cleansing opportunity; a means of wiping away what ails us in order to bring opportunities anew.  Rebirth, to some cultures.  Growth and new beginnings. 

I also love the potent calm that rain instills.  Several years ago, I succumbed to a night-time need for “sleepy sounds” to combat the hubster’s prolific snoring.  As I perused the options, I knew what brand of soul-soothing I required…what I needed to usher in slumber.  The trickle of rain.  Always rain.

On a rainy day last week, I decided to enjoy the blissful dance of chubby raindrops rather than rush from my car to my next meeting.  Good grief.  It was the most enchanting fifteen minutes I’ve experienced in a very long time.  I parked so I’d have a scenic view of a meadow bedecked with buoyant, brilliant autumn hues.  Those hints of orange and yellow as a backdrop to the rain on the windshield were utterly captivating. And yet…I quickly dismissed the background as I zoomed in on the drops themselves.  I’m the most amateur of photographers but I’m fairly proud of the snip I took.  See what I mean?  Even daughter Delaney pronounced it ‘wallpaper worthy’ which I took as high praise:

Raindrops on roses, whiskers on kittens…and Vicki down a rabbit hole.  Enjoying the photo and the memory of the calm fifteen minutes I experienced, I remembered a long-forgotten photographer – a maestro – whose exhibition I’d once seen in New York, many years ago.  Frustrated as I struggled to come up with his name, I zoomed around my office when I returned home to hunt down a clue. After rummaging through my mementos, I found him.  (Well, not literally him, but the trail.)  As soon as my fingers flew to the keyboard to see what else he’s been up to, I learned he passed away ten years ago and a wonderful, “Centennial Retrospective” is coming up on December 3 to celebrate what would’ve been his 100th birthday.

After that long wind-up, let me tell you this. 😊 Saul Leiter is…was…will forever be…a delight.  A magician with an SLR camera. Here’s a segment of the article from Digital Camera World summarizing Leiter’s impact and announcing the retrospective in his honor:

Celebrating 100 years since his birth in December 1923,  Saul Leiter: The Centennial Retrospective is a powerful tribute to a legendary New York photographer who pioneered the art of modern street photography.

Ironically though, in Leiter’s time, there was no such term as “street photography”. Leiter simply took photographs of subjects that were close to him, most of this happening in the three blocks around where he resided in Manhattan’s East Village.

There are parallels to the street photography that floods your social media today, but Leiter captured his 70 years ago, at a different time – using color when his contemporaries were still using black and white for this kind of photography. 

Saul Leiter: Unseen work from pioneer of street photography released in new book | Digital Camera World

Rest in peace, rest in honor, Mr. Leiter.  Street photographer, fellow human who adored raindrops:

A window covered with raindrops interests me more than a photograph of a famous person.

-Saul Leiter

Thank you for your artistry and inspiration and for helping me see the beautiful parallels of your work, reminiscent and evocative of my beloved Toulouse-Lautrec.  For more about that…I invite you to take a peek at my Victoria Ponders post.  I think you’ll see what I mean far better than I might express it with words.

Vicki 😉

49 thoughts on “Inspired by Raindrops”

  1. Pingback: Evocative Artistry – Victoria Ponders

    1. Aww…I’ll tell Lisa today. She’ll love that…any time I tell her about something one of my “writing friends” said that includes her — she gets such a giggle out of it. Thanks for that, Sheila. 🥰

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  7. I did something I so seldom do (and probably should more often). I re-read this post, and then back to your personal blog and re-read that, and then here again. It was the way you described your mini-obsession, you could have been talking about a cup of coffee and it would have come out as beautiful as a collection of raindrops or a haunting image of ladies at lunch through Leiter’s lens. Thank you for a peaceful start to the day.

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    1. Michael…that is the most generous of comments. Oh my. Thank you, thank you, thank you. I’d say the same to you — your observational skills about the everyday things we encounter? Such a joy to read. Let’s just trade compliments, shall we? Truly. Grateful to you for giving a lift to my Sunday morning. Hope you’re taking good care…enjoy the day today. 🥰🥰🥰

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  8. Beautiful, Vicki! I love, “On a rainy day last week, I decided to enjoy the blissful dance of chubby raindrops rather than rush from my car to my next meeting. Good grief. It was the most enchanting fifteen minutes I’ve experienced in a very long time.” Such a great post to remember to enjoy the interludes! And thanks for the introduction to Saul Leiter! Love it!

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  9. Rain is very healing and it’s neat to see that theme come up across different cultures. I find lying in bed listening to the raindrops to be very soothing as well.

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  11. Glorious rain! When Molly and I took our trip last week, I showed her the home grew up in and shared the story of my sisters and I leaning over the knee wall of the porch to wash our hair with rain water. Your photo is lovely – well seen as my photography mentor would have said. Seeing the minute details of life can be the one thing that inspires us to create as these raindrops did for you. Your recollections of Lisa and your father tied together in a bouquet of raindrops are so precious. They make me recall my own memories of family associated with the rain. Thank you for that.

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    1. How wonderful that your trip with Molly included the recall of those magic moments. I think that’s a perfect example – the hair washing with rainwater – of how powerful “place” can be. And we can’t be in the place…we can summon feelings from those scene-stealing raindrops. 😉Thanks so much for your sweet comment, Maggie. 🥰

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  14. I came across this post after I delightedly continued my walk after rain came down earlier. I love the rain both to be in it and watch it. I’ve also found myself contemplating how the rain reflects God’s nature.

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  15. I like rainy days and raindrops and the quiet hush that comes over my world. You mentioned “the cultural and spiritual aspects of rain” and I’ve never thought about that before. I know I feel cleansed after a day of rain, not in the literal sense but in the sense of feeling the burdens of life washed away.

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  16. What a delight! I absolutely love rainy days–calm, refreshing, nourishing–and your post brought me the same joy just thinking about a drizzly day. Here in Phoenix, we joke that it rain as soon as someone goes to get their car washing… I know what I’ll be doing this evening. 😉☔

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  17. I absolutely love rain, and missed it living in South Dakota. The measly 16″ average annual precipitation in Rapid City just didn’t cut it (and a lot of that falls as snow, too). Rain was seriously one of the factors that encouraged us to move to Wisconsin. Not a huge factor, mind you, but it was a consideration. Our average 38″ or so here is a lot closer to what I was used to living in the PNW.

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    1. Wowza…why have I always assumed the Dakotas – generally – whether North or South – get plenty of “weather” – including rain? Huh. And yah…rain brings all kinds of things forward in a renewal sense…but then there’s also the spooky-stuff and gloom. Hmm…😜

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