It's raining

"Rain is grace; rain is the sky descending to the earth; without rain, there would be no life." John Updike

"Some people walk in the rain, others just get wet." Roger Miller

I'm sure that anything I could say about rain would be corny and centuries of poets and writers have said it all better than I. So I'm just going to say that it is raining, and that here in Melbourne, where it is very hot and dry in the summer, so that we worry about fires, rain is a welcome thing. Well theoretically that is. In actual fact of course, we all feel a tiny bit miserable because rain tends to have that effect - especially if it goes on for a long time. And it has been raining all night and all day - so a grey day leads to a grey mood. Which is silly really isn't it? Because rain is the lifesaver of the planet, and besides colours look somehow brighter in the rain. As I look out of the window I see the yellow wattles are fresher looking than a few days ago and the grass is very green. And new flowers are coming out as well.

And we shouldn't be deterred by rain. I remember a friend saying that she never cancelled expeditions with her children if it rained, they did it anyway and it was different. Which is true. And you can do different things too - there are lots of things you can do indoors, and lots of places you can visit. You can go to an art gallery - we really should do Degas - the exhibition will be gone next week, but lots of other things to do here I think - and besides it's a busy week and we need a day off.

But speaking of art, the other thing that brought me to choose rain as my topic for the day was the wonderful film, Mr. Turner, about the last twenty five years of the artist JMW Turner's life, We saw it last night. Many of his paintings had rain as their subject matter. Here are two of them:

And also another one which is similar to one by his great rival of the time, John Constable. The Constable one is not how I think of Constable paintings. Perhaps it was Constable trying to do Turner. The one on the left is Turner, on the right is Constable and to my ignorant mind is somehow even more Turner than Turner.

And then I looked at a couple of other paintings by favourites - Van Gogh and Pissarro

And finally found a Japanese one by Utagawa Toyokuni, which somehow conveys wetness and wind with just a few strokes.

Rain is, of course, a favourite subject of artists - and photographers too.

So rain - essential if we are to eat - and rainy days:

"Rainy days should be spent at home with a cup of tea and a good book." Bill Watterson

I do have a book I should finish, and it is good, but depressing in the extreme. Fortunately it is nearly finished. And I don't like tea - but maybe a coffee. Then perhaps I could find a Terry Pratchett book to cheer me up. And yes - Terry Pratchett does have a quote about rain - several in fact - here are just three of them.