Spring Rain

It's interesting how certain memories stay with us for a lifetime.  Sometimes these memories are not of particularly profound or life-changing events, but they stay with us because of the emotions they stirred in us at the time.   They leave an indelible imprint on our psyches, taking us back at the most unexpected times.  A smell, a sound, a ray of light--all of these things can cause our memories to resurface.

One of those triggers for me is spring rain.  Days like today, where the April rain is coming down steadily, and the temperature is somewhere between warm and cold, take me back to a class field trip to Ann Arbor, Michigan when I was a child.  I don't even recall my exact age or grade at the time, but I am guessing probably 4th grade.  Our class was touring a few different museums on the campus of the University of Michigan.  This was my first time on a college campus as well as my first trip to Ann Arbor.

Looking back, I remember how mature the students looked.  It was a rainy spring day, but the streets were still full of students hurriedly walking along the streets of downtown, darting into coffee shops and big buildings.  They looked serious, full of purpose.  I wanted to be like them.  I too wanted to have a book bag slung over one shoulder, drink coffee and study interesting things like art, politics, and science.

The scene of a rainy spring Ann Arbor downtown is honestly the most vivid thing I remember from that field trip.  I could not tell you what we saw in those museums or even which museums they were.  But every time I smell the fresh spring rain, it takes me back to that day.  It makes me crave books and coffee, purpose and meaning.