rain walking

It started out as a stroll through the park.  Early evening, sun still out.  People just starting to come home from their daily affairs.  I picked a small, quiet street with lots of greenery surrounding the sidewalk, next to a ritzy apartment complex in the area.  The massive trees were full of chirping locusts.  They were singing to each other, I thought.  I encountered a man with his little shaved poodle standing up, one paw against his leg, as he tied a bag closed.  He looked up and I smiled.  Like most Tokyoites, he crossed to the other side of the street.  More space for me.  There was an enterance to the apartment complex that I hadn't seen before, and I thought, well, I may not live here, but what the hell.  On either side of the driveway I found myself on were what I can only describe as chasms of greenery several stories deep.  Nothing was down there, just green.  No windows, no apartments.  Curious.  I wondered what it would be like to be down there.  If you could get in, or out.  Leaving the complex, I entered Meguro Citizens' Park.  There were more people, rushing home.  The sun was starting to peek out from behind the massive aparment buildings.  Then I felt something.  Spit?  No, rain!!  A light drizzle.  I am thoroughly convinced that all Japanese have an umbrella hidden in their clothes at all times, because out of nowhere umbrellas materialized.  I hadn't brought anything with me, only my wallet and my key, because I hadn't originally planned on going anywhere.  My legs just kept carrying me, and so for once I didn't fight it, and I followed.  No umbrella for me.  No matter.  It was just a drizzle.  I looked up to see blue sky and scattered clouds.  Curious, but not unheard of.  Although I had become rather accustomed to not ever seeing the sky in Tokyo on these muggy, cloudy summer days.  The blue was unexpected, almost shocking.  More umbrellas, people walking.  I crossed the street away from the park into a neighborhood.  It started to pour.  But I didn't take cover, or run, or any of the other silly things we do when we try to avoid the elements.  I just kept walking, and I found myself thinking, what does it matter if I get a little wet?  How long has it been since I just walked in the rain, no where to go, no where to be, and just enjoyed the feel of the cool rain on my skin?  The cool drops were refreshing in the heat of Tokyo summer.  Shielding my eyes from the rain so that I could see, I continued down the street.  Fewer people.  As I wandered my way home, through the small residential streets and alleys, a rainbow appeared over the buildings.  Faint at first, growing brighter.  Still, the rain fell.  An elderly man passed me, a little surprized.  You get that look a lot here, being a foriegner.  I nodded to him.  He smiled a great big smile and nodded back.  Even in a city of millions, Tokyo people can be so warm if you just show a little warmth yourself.  The sky began to change - the sun was setting.  Still, the pinkish-gold rays of light cascaded between the buildings, lighting the rooftops and higher stories of the houses I passed.  I knew I was soaked, but it didn't matter.  Who cares if I look like I just climbed out of a drain?  It doesn't matter here.  I'm still me, just a slightly messier version.  And I thought to myself that this, this is what it means to be alive.  To just be.  Not to fight, but just to accept the world and the life all around you.  Not the things we buy, or the people we know, or the places we want to visit someday.  Here and now, this is life, and I'm living it.  Welcome to the planet.