Before I moved to CA where the sun shines most of the time (Neil Diamond circa 1971) and the ground is green for a brief few months a year, I generally thought of rain as a spoiler. I grew up with the children’s refrain “rain rain go away,” and never found a lot to appreciate in a rainy day. Until I moved to CA where the arrival of rain became a reason to celebrate.
How times change. Now in CA the hills are euphemistically called golden, but are in reality a dull brown. So if I travel and encounter rain, the usual nemesis of the tourist, I no longer gripe, but watch it in wonder and with pleasure. I’ve equipped myself with a colorful umbrella and a sturdy pair of waterproof sneakers so that I can easily navigate the puddles and the overflow I encounter. I breathe in deeply enjoying all those reputed negative ions.
The remnants of a typhoon are passing over Kyoto today. The skies are steel grey and a steady rain is falling. Yesterday, I bought autumnal flowers from my favorite flower store for our apartment and happily arranged them in what I determined were artistically satisfying arrangements now gracing our living space. Our interior is warm and pleasant although outdoors it’s a major contrast.
Katsuyoshi Matsuzaki sculpture, with flowers by DV
We have a friend visiting, so rather than hunker down, we visited a former samurai house that now is the home of a wonderful netsuke museum. 
I found the garden as interesting as the interior of the home and since we were not allowed to photograph the objects on display, I focused on the rain dance happening outside in the garden.
Not only did the rain dance seem to please the garden, it brought me great pleasure as well.
