paragraph on seen after heavy rain
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I found a surprising theme as I whittled down the edit to a few hundred photos, then to a few dozen, and finally to the 25 we have now. I expected rays of sunshine, bright colors, and puddle stomping. But the images that seemed to speak the loudest had something unexpected in common: They were so quiet.
After the rain, as people and animals gently step back out into the world, is an amazing time for quiet beauty. There are certainly exceptions in this story, but the overwhelming nature of these photos changed the way I thought about this theme. The winds die down, the song of raindrops fades away, and we are left in a world that seems calmer than before.
To the thousands of you who shared so many powerful scenes from our world after the rain, thank you. There were also some rule breakers out there, like Marc Jones’s photo that broke the rules in a beautiful way. For other photos, I could not confirm the time they were taken, the level of rain, or how long ago the storm had ended, but if the mood felt right, that was fine by me.
What a beautiful adventure to have gone on.
This story reminds me that even on days when I don’t like the rain, everything is connected and has a purpose.
“When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the universe.” —John Mui
What I love most, after the rains, is the way the rains clean the air - all the dust, all our pollution, gone. The world is suddenly totally clean - the air is clean - the colors of everything in the world around us are suddenly more vibrant, almost surreal at times - and skies take on an unbelievable collection of tints & hues, blues, greys, and - with luck - some of the pinks, reds, yellows or oranges associated with sunrise or sunset.
It is a beautiful time to be - and to see.