The June Monsoon 2013 ...

What falls but never gets hurt? ...

 RAIN!

Weather is an important factor of description in stories. Rain in particular adds so much atmosphere, especially to brooding, 'noir' thrillers. 
I used it as narrative backdrop in my books Wrath and Remembrance ...

... and to more significant effect in Blood and Water ...

... switching to snow for God's Soldiers ...

'April Showers' have inevitably led into the 'June Monsoon', which will no doubt stretch on through the rest of the year. 

One of my favorite things to do, when not working on a story, or relaxing to read, is to watch a great movie; it's the perfect escape for me, as I settle with a coffee and wind-down at the end of a day.

 
As I see torrential rain depicted on-screen, I wish I could be as enthusiastic about it as Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins), in The Shawshank Redemption (1994) ...

... or Luke (Paul Newman), in Cool Hand Luke (1967) ... 

... but it makes me feel the way Warren Schmidt (Jack Nicholson) looks on the poster for About Schmidt (2002) ...

... putting on a hat for cover like Josey Wales (Clint Eastwood), in The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976) ...

... and again as Will Munny, in Unforgiven (1992) ...

... wearing a full length poncho like David Dunn (Bruce Willis), in Unbreakable (2000) ...

... made in 1982, and based on the 1968 novel, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, by Philip K. Dick ... 

... the movie Blade Runner was sadly prophetic in its depiction of inner-city life, unbalanced and extreme weather systems, pollution, over-population, extinction of the natural habitat, et al. The rain adding so much to the climatic showdown between Roy Batty (Rutger Hauer) and Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford) ... 

Never a week goes by, when I don't venture out into the rain, like Kris Kelvin (Donatas Banionis), in Solaris (1972) ...

... and the same character, named Chris Kelvin (George Clooney), in the remake of Solaris (2002) ... 

... as a conservationist it concerns me what kind of future we might be facing? How bad is it going to get? As the ice caps continue to melt, the rain lashes down harder, more flooding occurs, and the extreme weather continues to get more frequent and violent in its intensity. It affects everything and it's another factor in the potentially disastrous fall in the honey bee population around the world.

When the rain is falling, bees will not venture from the hive. They can't fly in that weather as the rain knocks them out of the sky. 
We all need to do what we can to turn things around, before it's too late.
Then, hopefully, we'll all be smiling, even though we may be soaked to the bone, like Angel-a (Rie Rasmussen) and André Moussah (Jamel Debbouze), in Angel-A (2005) ...

... laughing regardless of whether we've either been drenched by a rain storm or a swim in a river, as brighter days lie ahead ... hopefully.