Strange Rain

I love it when it rains while the sun is out. I don’t know if there is an English phrase to describe that phenomenon but it is called “Kitsune no yome-iri (Foxes’ wedding)” in Japanese.

There is a Japanese folklore about foxes having supernatural power to transform into humans and do other strange things. So it kind of makes sense that foxes are associated with the peculiar experience.

One of the short stories in Kurosawa’s classic omnibus “Dream” is based on this folklore and that particular episode is my favorite among his works.

Fox or not, there is something magical about the sight of rain coming down against blue sky. I feel like I’m captivated by a moment that is not quite real whenever I see that. It’s very transient and almost fragile.

Yesterday when I was driving home from work, the sky was a patchwork of clear blue, fluffy white, and very very dark gray. As I crossed into the City of Ann Arbor, huge raindrops started hammering down with thud, thud, and thud.

Each droplet caught the sunlight and the air was full of dazzling fantasia.

It filled me with euphoria. People walking in the golden splashes also looked euphoric, even though they were soaking wet.