Well, today was a day of storms.  At 6 am this morning we had a huge round of thunderstorms that knocked out power at the restaurant for a few hours. The lightning felt like it was right over our heads. The thunder shook the windows.

Then the sun came out, and after a while, the parking lot was bone dry. Birds chirped as though nothing had happened.

A few hours later, the storms returned with a vengeance.  The rain fell so fast and so hard that the kitchen prep room flooded. My friend Dom and I spent an hour bailing out the first floor roof of my restaurant.  We were drenched, and more than 6 inches of rain were in the parking lot.

Then the sun came out, and the parking lot looked like we had just had a light sprinkle.  The woman across the street went out to walk her dog.

Waylon Jennings and Jessi Colter famously sang "Storms never last, do they, baby?"  I got to thinking about that song today while we stood in the deluge and bailed hundreds of gallons of water off my roof.  It made me burst into laughter. What infinite wisdom there is in that one, simple lyric.  

Reader, trouble comes, then goes.  Happiness comes, then goes.  The floods come, and those times are hard.  Then the floods pass, and the birds sing.  Again.  And again.  And again.  Until we're gone.  Probably best to learn to find some joy during the flood, knowing it won't last forever.

So here's to smiling in the rain.  It doesn't always happen for me, but today it did, and it felt like a symbolic day in my life to embrace in the hard times. Wishing you the same this week.  See you next Monday. -Em