I was living in Providence, Rhode Island as a small child at the time. The murky yellow and icky brown colored apartment was at the intersection.

We hear sirens constantly to the point where they becomes a background noise. Cars, motorcycles, buses, and random trucks becoming comforting because it entertaining me by watching people doing their thing. I do remember hating motorcycles because how loud they could get in the summer; I am fascinated by the motorcycle artwork designs. There were constant foot traffic on the sidewalk below because there was a convenience store underneath of my apartment. There were a Fish and Chip restaurant at the another side of the intersection that we would order dinner there whenever my mother was not in the mood to cook which is very rare for us. Occasionally, we would hear airplanes, and helicopters flying above us from the nearby airports.

On rainy days, the street would sometimes oddly quiet down. The smell of the rain was refreshing during summer, yet at the same time gloomy. As a child, I wasn’t allowed to play outside in the rain, but it provided a nice break from the humidity and heat since we didn’t have air conditioning; we relied on open windows for a cooling breeze. On sunny days, my sister, K and I would hook up the hose to cool ourselves down in the backyard and make games out of it.

Whenever the nature decide to pour rain in Providence, I would stand at bay window staring out of right side window for an hour or two. I’d be silent, watching the street below or into the distance, my mind just calmed to no thoughts at times. I would hunt down rain drops to watch, or the water overflowing from gutters from different houses, the impact of rain hitting the vehicles passing by or random rooftops. It capture my attention just watching while I can hear out of my hearing aids on how heavy to the lightness pour from the open sky.

There has been times my family would call my name several times until they had to shout to get my attention. The entrance of the house was maybe a foot away from me, so there has been visitors that came in without me noticing. The vibration, the sounds behind me, and whatever was happening behind me didn’t capture my attention until I look around me to see what was going on. I cannot count how many times I would ask what time it was and realized so much time had passed; It often feel like it was only 10 to 15 minutes. The rain has calming effects on me and that apartment is only place I can remember I would go into that zone.

Rainy night were the best. The gentle breeze and the cool night air helped to cool down the apartment. I enjoy rainy weather and would grin as I breathed in at bedtime.

Have you experience a moment like this with the raining zone?

Photo Credit – Photos posted here are not mine.