Everyone who reads my column knows how much I love nature, so this week I wanted to highlight a little experience I had on a day when nature decided to rain on me.

Well, it didn’t happen just that one day …

As most of you know, the forecast has called for rain — or clouds — pretty much every day in May and June so far (especially on Saturdays). I remember sitting with a friend one day when she suddenly blurted out, “What’s that?” It was the sun. It briefly interrupted our conversation, as if to remind us it still existed. 

On one of the rainiest days last week, I had some time in between my office work in Bristol and traveling to Little Compton for a story, so I decided coffee was needed to perk me up for the long drive. But as I was driving to Starbucks (yes, I am an undeniable fan), I decided to stop at Colt State Park for a walk instead. Why not? I was wearing a hoodie. I could stand a little rain. 

What I saw on that walk was fabulous: a golden finch, a few robins, a red-winged blackbird, more than a few cotton tails, butterflies, and my favorite animal in the world — a deer. 

Oddly enough it didn’t rain one bit, until I got back to my car. 

I’m sharing this story because I needed a burst of energy — and that walk gave me more than the Starbucks coffee ever could. It was a full-body experience, taking in the scents of flowers and the sights and sounds of the nature around me. Which brings me to Little Compton …

I feel like the energy from that walk had me practically bursting through the door of the Little Compton Wellness Center to greet the three lovely ladies who helped me with this week’s main story. They all said I looked different than they expected from our phone conversations. Honestly, I think it was that walk — my smile was bigger, my voice was livelier, and everything about me just had this energy that you can’t really get over the phone — or from a cup of coffee. 

Anyway, they showed me how they can energize a room full of people through one of the many things they have to offer at the wellness center — through improv. Read the story. I promise, you will laugh — and possibly want to join their next class. 

Speaking about energy, meet Kim, “the serial entrepreneur” who landed in Barrington almost a year ago with her own burst of energy in the restaurant business in another story I wrote this week.  

In contrast to the liveliness of the improv class and the energy of the “serial entrepreneur,” a contributing writer wrote a fantastic piece about death cafés that I think will pique the interest of most readers — as it certainly piqued mine. 

Speaking of cafés, we at the news team are planning to do a pop-up newsroom possibly at a café in the East Bay where you can come and meet us, talk to us, find out who we are and what we do … Let us know if you are interested in coming …

I’ll try not to burst through the door with so much energy that I knock it down, but I can’t make any promises. The sun has been showing up a bit more lately and my energy has been released …

Michelle Mercure is editor of the East Bay Life section. Contact her for story ideas, comments, and suggestions at mmercure@eastbaymediagroup.com.