Listen to the plants sing ...

Image courtesy of scienceblogs.com. Click the link to see more spectacular lightning pics from the Eyjafjallajokull Volcano.

When I was a wee kid, I used to hate it when it rained; as being in Southeast Malaysia the rains are hard, heavy and last for hours, interspersed with continuous thunder and lightning flashes (kilat sabung-menyabung, as the locals would say). It interfered with my play time romping around in the bushes, and it made me a very unhappy kid when it rained.

That is until one day my (late) grandmother saw the disappointment and impatience in my eyes, and she whispered the mystical sentence:

"Don't be hating the rain ... listen to the plants sing instead. They only do so when it rains"

That was maybe 30 years ago. It took me nearly as long to finally make sense of that mystical sentence whispered in the gloomy darkness of a Southeast Asian Thunderstorm, with winds howling through the trees, rain crashing down not unlike waterfalls from the Heavens, and bolts of lightning ripping through the skies, and thunder threatening to strike you dumb with fear.

When the weather is not to your liking (e.g. heavy rain) listen to the plants sing. If you listen, and pay attention, really hard, you can hear it, too. It's not something that I can explain tangibly in writing; it's more of an observational skill, and takes a bit of imagination. But indeed the plants do Sing.

Thank you, Nenek, for the words of Wisdom. I can now hear the plants Sing, and I wish to pass the wisdom to all you readers.