After

At the Maine House, there are huge pairs of trees in the front and side yard.  We were told they are ‘wedding trees’ and were planted in pairs, to celebrate weddings gone by.  They are very old now, dating back a hundred years and maybe more.

They form a canopy over the house, keeping it cool in summer even on the warmest days.

But they also do something else.

They ‘after rain’.

When the summer storms come, sometimes in spectacular fashion with ground-shaking thunder and a light show rivaling any Forth of July celebration, the wedding trees are always standing afterward. Sure, leaves fall, and sometimes branches too.

But they stand.

And then, the skies clear and the sun comes out…

A breeze comes in off the water, the soft salt air fills the house through the post-storm opened windows, and the sound of rain fills the house and porches.  This often goes on for minutes at a time, as the leaves shake themselves off from their recent dance with nature.

It occurred to me this morning, that it is not unlike when life’s hardest storms hit us.

Forces to be reckoned with.

We make it through, maybe a little damaged, a bit broken.

And we are still standing.

But every once in a while, a sight or smell or feeling jogs a memory loose and we need to take a minute.

Let the emotions come, let our hearts and minds remember what happened.

And allow ourselves to shake it off.

Stand tall.

Take a deep breath.

And keep going.

After rain.

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