"Have You Ever Seen the Rain?"

Jake DeHaan

On this last expedition we had many fun and memorable experiences. The one I would to talk about is the amazing rainstorm we went through on Picnic Key. One day we were deciding on what to do since we had some time in between lunch and dinner. The conditions were looking unfavorable and the vote was between capture the flag and taking a hike down the beach. My vote was on capture the flag so if it began to rain we could easily get into our tents and wait it out. The group decided on the walk and we began walking down the beach. It was absolutely amazing. There were old trees half immersed in sand; it was just the most beautiful things I have ever seen. The way they seemed to come from nowhere and snake through the ground, plunging into the sand, only to reappear close by. We made it as far back into these trees as we could before they became to close together and we had to turn back. Almost instantaneously it began to rain as we began walking back to camp. It began to fall amazingly fast and hard. It was rain I have never seen before, at first it fell extremely hard and fast, like someone pouring bucket of water on you from hundreds of feet up. Soon after that, the rain began to fall. It almost seemed to begin falling sideways. The wind was so strong that it was pushing the rain incredibility hard against the side of our faces. Cassy and I, being the only ones with long hair decided to take our hoods off and let the rain flow through our hair. It was one of the most special movements of my life and I’ll never forget how beautiful it was, how peaceful and insignificant everything in the world seemed to be at the moment. When we returned, most people went straight to their tents, but I decided to just spend some time out in the rain to appreciate how absolutely beautiful everything in the world can be, no matter where you are, or what your going through, if you look hard enough you can always find it.