Rain!

It came with a magnificent thunder clap, rolling down across the arid hills in a giant mass of billowing clouds. The kids and I were on our way home from running errands when the first drops hit my little Corolla's windshield.  Soon, the rain was streaking across the windows.

"Mommy, what's that?!!"  Xander asked in amazement.  Now, remember, the child is almost 3 years old.

"It's rain, honey,"  I answered.

"It's on our windows!  And on the trees!  And on the street!  And on the house!  And on the other car! And ..."  We kept driving, marveling at this miraculous substance that was covering the world around us.

Soon, Sophie said, "Mom, you see that lake?"

"What lake?"

"That lake.  By the library."

" ... That's a puddle, Soph."

My poor kids, raised in the desert.  Still, we exulted in the rain as it came, and when we got home, the kids changed into their swimsuits to explore the 'river' outside our house.