Whenever I think about my childhood, those memories came into my mind with the fragrance of Mother Earth. So, in Burmese, we call it နေရွှန်းမွှေး. It’s a fragrant smell because of the raindrops. In Myanmar, formerly called Burma, we have in January the New Year and Water Festival in April. So, in late April or in May we have raindrops, the beginning of monsoon, this is an indicator of the end of summer and monsoon in Southeast Asia. Monsoon means raining cats and dogs, it rains heavily. In the U.S. the rain is not an issue to me because of my experience of monsoons back home. So, after the raindrops touch Mother Earth after a few weeks, then school reopens, and the school semester starts.

My parents bought me a new raincoat, boots, and new lunch basket. Not a lunchbox, we put lunch in a basket. So during the weekend in the rainy season, I enjoy afternoon naps listening to the sound of raindrops. It reminded me of the song “Listen to the Rhythm of the Falling Rain”. In the 1980s there were many shady trees in my country, not in the big city of Rangoon. At the time the rain and the wind, it flows into the big trees, leaves, and that sound is music and soothing to me. I feel like all my negative emotions or low mood is falling apart with the rain. It means calm and stress relaxation to me. In Burmese poems and literature, rain is helping or encouraging the poets or the writers who are fond of sad stories and all those kinds of romance. I also enjoy eating Mango, Durian, Rambutan, and Mangosteen because of the rain. We enjoy fish from the river and ocean, in my country there’s a variety of fish so I would say my story is listen to the rhythm of the falling rain.