When It Rains...

We experienced six days of rain last week some of it coming in fast, hard downpours. The skies hung heavy and low, creating a world of gray and gloom. The air temperature stayed in the seventies or near eighty, adding to the damp misery.

Except when the rain finally ended and I toured my gardens and flowerbeds, I found thriving cucumbers and bountiful blooms of a color to chase away the remembered dreariness of storms. No evening watering could do for those plants what natures' methods could. Rain is needed.

Good stories are like that. To appreciate a happy ending we must have the storm before hand. The storm may cause extra work or stress the emotions. The rain might destroy or cause setbacks. But after the clouds have passed? The world becomes brighter. Things grow stronger and larger. It's better for having suffered the rain.

I spent those rainy days outlining my next book. Not so much an outline as a list of bullet points I intend to incorporate into the novel. It's how I usually start a new book. I have the beginning and end all worked out but I need a little more rain to carry through the middle. Even though the sun is shining today, I'm going to outline some gloomy and cloudy scenes today.

In my hometown today.

On another high note, the Budweiser Clydesdales are coming to my hometown tonight. It will be fun to see the famous crew clopping down Main Street.

Don't forget to visit the IWSG blog today for another great post.