Austin Family and Children Photographer | Magan's Lens » Austin Family and Children Photographer, Magan Blasig

Rainy, grey, dreary days like today always make me reminiscent. Days like today bring with them an abundance of childhood memories, often memories of little things my Dad used to do while we were growing up.  Days like today bring back one very particular memory for me.

My parents used to be on bowling leagues when I was younger. Two nights a week, we would head to Giddings, Texas for bowling nights. I had friends there, did tons of homework there, and it was all-around just part of my life. As you can imagine, with all the time we spent there, some nights it would be raining when we were on our drive back home.  We lived approximately 25 minutes from Giddings in a tiny little town called Dime Box, population 350.  Yes, you did read that correctly, and no, I’m not kidding.

My Mom and Dad would be in the front seats with the three of us buckled up in the back seats. I would write words on the windows, practicing my letters and writing the alphabet.  Ashley used to sing (loudly) to every song on the radio.  Justin would find ways to torment both Ashley and I.  Sibling love at it’s finest.  On the nights it was raining, my Dad always used to do something that wowed and impressed me.

He would say, “I can stop the rain,” and he would.

He would hold his hand up to the top of the car, and the rain would stop. The constant drumming of rain on the car would pause. There would be this wonderful brief moment of utter silence.  I thought my Dad was amazing – he could stop the rain.

It wasn’t until I got a little older that I realized how, when, or why he could cause something so incredible to happen.  Finally, it clicked that every time the rain “stopped”, we were simultaneously going under an overpass.  He had the timing down perfect – knew exactly when to put his hand up to draw our attention to the silence – as opposed to realizing that the rain was being blocked by the road overhead.  I thought my Dad was so clever for figuring out how to trick us into believing he had such an incredible power.

The weather here is grey and rainy, and as I go out of the house to run errands, I smile every time I drive under an overpass and I think about how my Dad stops the rain.

I photographed my parents at the end of last year for their Christmas card. I realize I never blogged about them, so what better day to share a photo of them than today?  This was taken at one of my grandparents houses. The background is a barn that has the Texas flag painted the entire length of one side.  For as long as my grandparents have had this done, my Mom has wanted a photo in front of it.

And for the record, I do still think my Dad is incredible.