Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Lemons or lemonade?



I began to post this last Friday afternoon and, lo and behold, I saw Dotti's post that was scheduled to post  the day before mine and which was titled "Raindrops - Falling on My Head."  Hmmm, I thought, I'm writing about rain too.  I wonder what she's saying about it.  So I let curiosity get the best of me and read her post (the day before it was scheduled). Well, as you will see when you read mine today, our minds were following along the same lines (you know what they say about great minds thinking alike!)  Rather than rewrite my post, I thought you might enjoy hearing another side of the same subject.

Living in the desert, we don't get a lot of rain.  The city where I live is nicknamed "the Valley of the Sun", and for good reason. We have about 360 days a year of sunshine.  This time of year is called "monsoon season" where we have evening thunderstorms and I do love sitting by a window and watching the flashes of lightning or lying in bed listening to the thunder. But if we get rain during the daylight hours, I'm not a happy girl.

So when I woke up this morning to rain, I wasn't surprised that it put me in a bad mood.  Rain?  In the daytime?  What's up with that?  If I could stay inside and just curl up with a good book, it wouldn't be so bad, but I hate driving in it, I suppose mainly because I'm not used to it.  And after one day of cloudy skies, I'm ready to see the sun again.

But then I remembered Judy's post a little over a week ago about shooting in the rain.  I went back and reread it and decided I was going to try to make the most of this rainy day.  Lately it has been so hot that going out to play with my camera has held no appeal and I'm suffering from withdrawal big time.  I didn't try Judy's suggestion about protecting your camera and actually shooting in the rain but I waited until the rain finally stopped and out I went, camera in hand.  The temperature was 82!  A far cry from the 113 of a couple of days ago.  Something to be thankful for right off the bat.  And  as I opened my eyes to the beauty around me, I forgot about my bad mood and began capturing all of the good things left by the rain -- jewels dripping off of flowers and the ripening fruit on my pomegranate tree, a seed pod cupping a glistening droplet of water -- things I never would have seen on an ordinary sunny summer day.  And the overcast sky gave everything such a rich, saturated color.


I was reminded of the quote by Ludwig Wittgenstein, "Happiness is not having what you want, but wanting what you have."

The bigger picture here, I think, is how we choose to respond when life throws us a curveball.  Like the old saying, "When life gives you lemons, make lemonade", do we grumble and complain that things aren't going as we  planned (the lemons) or do we take a different look at it and find the good that might be hiding there (and make lemonade)?  You can be sure that the next time it rains, I won't be moping around the house in a bad mood, I'll be grabbing my camera and making the most of it! 

I hope you have taken the time to look in our Flickr pool at all the amazing images that have been posted so far this month relating to our "water" theme.  Make sure to get yours uploaded and marked with the tag "water".  Who knows, you might just be our In Focus selection this week!



19 comments:

Carol said...

It's so cool that this ties into Dotti's post, but also to the posts about optimism earlier in the week. Photographers are just such good people, aren't they?

gina said...

Gorgeous rain shots, Terri! Your words are good reminders for all of us to make the best of what life throws at us.

heyjudephotography said...

Yes, I like Carol's comment. It does tie nicely into the other posts this week, and of course, the one I posted on shooting in the rain. I am so glad that you were able to get out and shoot after the rain. You have some beautiful images, and they make me kind of jealous because we've had rain just once over the past few weeks. Lemons or lemonade? I will try to find a way to make lemonade out of today - when, here in NY it is going to be 99, with extreme humidity. I guess I'll just keep thinking that "hey, it's better than snow!" haha

Dotti said...

Wonderful after the rain photos, Terri. In addition to the continued theme of optimism (which, by the way, was not planned), I love the different perspectives. Since you live in the desert with the expectation of abundant sunshine, the sight and sound of morning rain at first made you grumpy. Since I live in an area where adequate rain plus sunshine is needed for our landscape, the sight and sound of morning rain brought joy to my heart. Once we got past that, we both grabbed those cameras. Right on, Life Sister! However ... Terri, I double-dog-dare-you to go OUT in the rain the next time. :-))))

xo
Dotti

Deanna said...

What a delightful, uplifting post, Terri. Your photos are stunning and your reversal of fortune attitude is terrific. But what I don't understand is how can you get rain out there in the desert, and we here in the midwest are struggling for any drop at all? We have rain predicted in the next couple of days so maybe I will get some raindrop images too.

heyjudephotography said...

I second Dotti's dare! Next time, protect that camera, and get right out in the rain! :)

terriporter said...

Thanks to your wonderful post, you have us all thinking about shooting in the rain! Yes, when it is so hot here in the summer and people complain, I always reply, "Well, at least we don't have to shovel it!"

terriporter said...

Dare accepted!

terriporter said...

We usually do get rain this time of year, but it is mainly at night. The clouds build up over the desert in the late afternoon and evenings bring thunderstorms, sometimes with rain and sometimes just blowing dust. This rain in the daytime was unusual. Hope you get some rain soon!

terriporter said...

Yes, optimism! Always a good thing! I forget that people who live where it rains don't have to worry about watering their flowers and lawns. Here we have everything on a sprinkler or drip system and things get watered automatically. But I do love that our response, although different, led us both to experimenting with our cameras. And as far as that dare goes, see my response to Judy below!

terriporter said...

I agree, Carol. When I wrote this post, I hadn't really thought about the tie in with the posts about optimism but they must have been on my mind subconsciously. I love the way photography can pull us out of a bad mood and make us happy, but I think we're a pretty optimistic bunch!

terriporter said...

Thanks, Gina! It's a hard thing to keep in mind sometimes but it makes life so much sweeter when we concentrate on the good things, doesn't it?

Kim Stevens said...

Well, we have been having more than our share of rain lately, and after the last year and a half of severe extreme drought and wildfires through the state of Texas, I guess I really can't complain about it. We went two months last year with no rain and ended the year with a defeit of over 30 inches. But, on the other hand we have been having quite the flash flooding and I sure wish I could share the happinesss with those in need...Deanna! Not sure I'll be shooting IN the rain as when it rains here lately your not even safe under an umbrella. I do love to shoot from my front porch though when it's not blowing sideways! haha Wonderful photos!!

Linda said...

It's perfect that you posted this after Dotti! Rain in the desert is so different than rain in Kentucky! Or Texas! And I love all your shots! This is a great reminder to make the most of an unexpected situation!
Thanks for the motivation!

xo,
Linda

Leigh said...

Love the collage Terri!

Carol said...

Yeah! triple dare!

AFishGirl said...

Rain. It's such a central part of my life, though it's dry here now. I love the rain. Of all weather, I love blizzards best. Just as well, huh? As always, my mind boggles at how vast the world and all our different environments. When I think of my childhood, a million memories involving rain. I may have to blog about it. Love the collage!

Claudia said...

I love umbrellas and rain -- we just dont have much of it.

My favorite time to shoot is always right after a storm.

Wonderful thoughts and work hon.

Hugs

stephmull said...

How cool is it that you and Dotti were on the same wavelength and you used Judy's suggestions for shooting in the rain?? And I love your results....gorgeous collage of rain soaked, color saturated photos!

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