Water World

There is something great about taking a shower while it's raining.

My family's kitchen and bathroom are both in a small building behind the main house. This building has a corrugated-metal roof. When it drizzles, the raindrops tap soothingly against the metal. And when it rains hard, the roof makes a clattering racket.

Part of the reason for the metal roof is, it is a useful component in a rainwater catchment system. Rain pours off the corrugated metal into gutters, which lead to several different cisterns around the property. One PVC pipe leads from the roof gutter, through a small hole in the side of the building, back to the cistern in the bathroom that is used for bathing. So when it rains hard, a constant trickle of water enters the cistern. When it rains softly, the trickle becomes a slow drip.

And "scooper showers" create a unique sound too: the splashing slap of the water hitting the bathroom tiles.

These sounds, the rain on the roof, the dripping in the cistern, the splashing on the tiles, weave a soothing melody. It quietly taps out all thoughts and worries. There is nothing like showering in the rain.