nvc

When looking at photos of the oil spill in the Gulf, I felt flooded with despair, sadness and hopelessness; the well-being of the Earth, the water, the people and animals are so deeply precious to me.  When I consider the quantity of oil pouring out, I fear sometimes that the gulf between our actions and what we value is too wide.  Yet today, connecting continually with the Earth, I feel more peaceful, calm, trusting.  

In French, the verbs for crying (pleurer) and raining (pleuvoir) seem pretty close - je pleure (I'm crying) and il pleut (it's raining). I've also often wondered why the weather is preceded by "il" (he) and not "elle" (she). A few weeks before our trip, I started using the verb pleuvoir, saying "je pleut", when I cry. I thought this was kind of a quirky thing to say, the kind of mistake an anglophone would make - I'm raining :) - and I found it fun and silly, turning my tears into smiles.