Rainfall

The Sounds of Home: Part 3

Hello! And welcome back to day three of The Sounds of Home.

If there was one theme that wove its way through your stories more than any other, it was water — in all its many shapes and forms. For

Taimie Beitz

, the sound of home is “lake water slapping the shore.” For

Switter’s World

, it’s “the rush of the river in the darkest hours of night.”

And for

Jahzeer Terrell

, whose story I have the honor of sharing with you today, the sound of falling rain is the sound of home — and a source of comfort.

A brief story about the illustration I created for today — for a while, I couldn’t quite decide on what to paint, for how exactly does one paint the rain? But then, inspiration struck on my recent trip to Norway’s Lofoten Islands, where it rained nearly every day we were there.

One especially rainy Sunday afternoon, we were out for a drive, heading nowhere in particular, when the roadsides began to overflow with bluebells. I immediately pulled over to take a photo, and as I knelt down, I was mesmerized by the dozens of raindrops clinging to every tiny flower.

There was just something about the bluebells that made me think of Jahzeer’s story, evoking the same feelings of shelter and safety, and I knew right away that I’d found his illustration. Finally, I’d figured out how to paint the rain.

Here’s to creative collaborations — and the inspiration they bring,
Candace