It has been rainy lately. I have barely noticed - only when my dad comments on the weather in Corner Brook, or when I see that the deck is wet. I spend my days flitting from one thing to the next. I haven't taken the time to take in the rain.

Yesterday, I had a couple of errands to run. I was loading Eoin and his car seat into the car when I saw him staring intently over my shoulder. I followed his gaze. Eoin was looking at the raindrops on the car window.

I was instantly transported. I had the impression of sitting in the backseat of the car, as a child, absently listening to the ebb and flow of my parent's conversation in the front, and watching the raindrops on the window...Watching the drops grow fatter until they finally burst into rivulets, snaking their way down the window, intercepting other rivulets, jostling other drops along the way and pulling them into their flow... Seeing the moving green of the trees as a background to raindrops' pattern... Daydreaming, with my thoughts meandering along in much the same way as the raindrop rivulets on the car window. This was an impression rather than a memory. Perhaps it was an amalgamation of memories.

I was filled with the sense that Eoin is only beginning his journey. Ahead of him lie years of discovery. Ahead of him lies childhood. His mind is clear of habits and agendas. There are no clouds of worry to cast shadows. Yet there is rain now. Eoin's mind is open and yesterday, it was taking in the rain.