Rain and the Vexing Human Condition

So it's been a while since I wrote a blog post...It's never too late to start again, I suppose!

A few weeks ago, I was driving back from Panama City Beach (my grandmother, some of my aunts, and my cousins were there for vacation; I hadn't seen some of them in years) and the rain was terrible on the interstate.  You could barely see 100-200 feet in front of you.  Being a smart(er?) driver, I drove slowly.  Yet people started whizzing by 10-20 miles per hour faster.  These were the same people that I had passed earlier, when there was no rain.

I've noticed on more than one occasion that people often speed up when it's raining.  And it got me thinking: why do we often do irrational things when life is most dangerous?  Some of what is so amazing about the human spirit is our willingness to take risks, and it may be one of the prime reasons why we came out on top of the evolutionary battle. But you'd think that most of us would be smart enough to think, "You know what, going 85 in an Escalade isn't a smart idea."  But maybe that's the point: we are so used to having it all in industrialized countries that we easily forget our mortality at times.  Let's not forget that we are not gods, but mere mortals.  There is a time and a place to look to the stars and dream big, but let's do that when it makes sense, not when it's based on mere hubris....

To end, I'd like to finish with one of my favorite poems.  It's an American poet that talks about dark and dreary days, which is appropriate for a day like today, when Tropical Storm Debby is creating quite a havoc near Tallahassee. Life is hard at times, but good times are always ahead. I pray that everyone stays safe despite this storm.

The day is cold, and dark, and dreary;
It rains, and the wind is never weary;
The vine still clings to the moldering wall,
But at every gust the dead leaves fall,
And the day is dark and dreary.

My life is cold, and dark, and dreary;
It rains, and the wind is never weary;
My thoughts still cling to the moldering Past,
But the hopes of youth fall thick in the blast
And the days are dark and dreary.

Be still, sad heart! and cease repining;
Behind the clouds is the sun still shining;
Thy fate is the common fate of all,
Into each life some rain must fall,
Some days must be dark and dreary.


(Source: http://quotations.about.com/cs/poemlyrics/a/The_Rainy_Day.htm)