An Ode to Rain

Yesterday brought a welcome respite from the incessant heatwave we've been having in the UK. It was colder than it's been for ages, the sun was covered with dark, thick clouds, and best of all, it was raining. I spent more time than I'd like to admit sat on the edge of my balcony, reaching my hand out every now and again to remind myself that it wasn't just a mirage.

Rain makes me feel comforted, warm, pensive and nostalgic - all rolled into one. I felt like a cactus seeing rain after a year of drought. Whether you run around with an umbrella to shelter your unimpressed expression, or stand outside with your tongue to the sky - rain demands our attention. It makes sure we hear its pitter patter on the window all day long.

When it rains, I'm always reminded of all the rainy days I've lived through. Few of the memories are vivid - instead, I'm teased with what feels like the flicking through of a deck of cards and I can only capture a quick sense of each memory. It's more of an overall feeling, an aftertaste of a thousand rainy memories.

I remember the rain up North, and how it had much more of a bite than it does in the South. I remember rainy days in the summer holidays in-between school years, when I'd make my mother do jigsaw puzzles with me all day long.

I remember at university, when I went for a bike ride along the river with my housemate. About ten minutes in, the rain started pouring down. It was painful - the raindrops looked like golf balls as they fell. We decided to keep going until we couldn't see or breathe, before going home and peeling our clothes off.

I remember when I was in secondary school, when my friends and I fell victim to the flared trousers trend, and as we trudged to school in the rain, it would make its way up our legs until our knees were wet.

Rain makes me feel calm, but, more than any other type of weather, it makes me feel restless, and frustrated on the days I can't go out in it and play. For now, the smell, the sound and the very presence of it is enough. Especially at a time when I thought rain had abandoned me.

Rain is always an event. It's a calming backdrop to a cosy day indoors, a reason to sit and look out the window... and it leaves behind that beautiful smell that reminds you you're alive. Sharing your umbrella, holding in the anger as a car purposefully splashed a puddle all over you, ruining the hair you just spend 20 minutes styling - rain makes the day a bit different.

The relationship we Brits have with rain is like an elderly married couple - we enjoy pretending it annoys us, but we secretly love it. It makes us pay attention - and anything that can tear our eyes away from our phones these days deserves a parade. Let's hope it just doesn't rain.