“it’s raining, it’s pouring, the old man is snoring, ….”
This childhood chant and the accompanying dancing around (usually not in the rain) often comes to mind when the rains pour down here in Cameroon. In my memory, this nursery rhyme was usually sung aloud with lots of spinning and dancing with my stuffed animals on days I could not go out to play due to rain.
In Cameroon, our kids do go out in the rain and they dance and spin while getting wet on many occasions. Rain is a happy thing and it brings many good things with it. For example, following a dry season, there is an immediate greening of the brown grass and plants. The dust is removed from the air, the roofs of houses and even all the leaves.
However, too much rain brings with it destruction. We have all seen pictures of floods and the devastation left in their wake. Here the ground becomes so soggy that trees fall over causing damage as they go.
An example of the destruction done by falling trees – this one is from a few years back.
Rain is good, but in moderation. That is true for many other things in our lives; both things we consider good and things we would put on the “bad” list. Some of those bad things can actually be “good” in small doses, things like stress and pain. Balance is important and we need to strive to find a good balance so that in all circumstances we can thrive.
