I away knew I'd get a chance to tell this story some day. Thanks for starting this thead Knifeparty!
In 2000 I went to Tom Brown's Tracker school. I was really into Native American philosophy and The Tracker School really seamed to reinforce a lot of what I had read and learned up to that point. It may seam crazy to some but Tom's books and teachings had a very deep and lasting affect on me. Not too long after coming back from Tom's school my father became very ill and had to be hospitalized and required very serious surgery, things did not look too good. He was in intensive care and I tried to spend as much time as I could at the hospital, but I still had to work. The hospital was only about a mile away from my work so sometimes I would walk to the hospital on an extended lunch break. On one particularly nice early fall day I decided to make the walk to the hospital. I was about 1/3 to 1/2 way there when I was caught in a very unexpected and pretty intence rain shower. I was not prepaired having only warn a light wind breaker. But instead of finding cover, I was stuck with the most profound feeling of what I can only explain as an almost spiritual feeling. That may seam goofy but we've all had experiences like this at one time or another. So instead of getting wet I felt the rain on a much deeper level and began to laugh uncontrolably it must have looked quite strange to the people and cars that I passed. I made it to the hospital completely drenched but with the most profound feeling of comfort. At that point I knew my dad would be OK and that no matter what happened everthing would always find a way of working out. That walk had the most profound effect on me that has lasted to this very day i will never be the same. It's funny too because my father had always had a say that I grew up hearing, "some people just don't have since enough to get in out of the rain". From that day forward I had a new saying, "some people feel the rain, others just get wet". Now I find myself from time to time drawn to a good rain shower. There's just nothing like getting out and playing in the rain.
So anyway, shortly after that experience I needed a screen name for something and the answer was clear as a bell to me. You might even say the name picked me instead of me picking the name.
You might even say that "Rainwalker" has become my given name. It's not what my wife and kids call me but it's become a very close second to my birth name.
Sorry if this story seams too goofy or too sappy, I've alway wanted the opportunity to tell it though and I hope it has given some food for thought. Sometimes the most profound things can happen in the most mundane circumstances, sometimes they're obvious sometime their not.
So that's the story of my name hope you enjoyed it... <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" />
