Sunday, July 19, 2015

A Rainy Day Shift

Three times in the past few weeks I have started writing a post and now I have three different unfinished posts. I can't seem to get enough focused time, at least that it is my excuse. Today the plan was to finish one of the partially written posts, but it started raining. Now you may wonder what raining has to do with completion of a post. Oh but it does; it changed the course of my day.

It doesn't rain a lot in southern California and it almost never rains in the summer, but today we had a downpour. It's great writing weather! I could hear the kids across the street laughing and playing in the rain; I went to the window to watch one of them riding a board down the street in rushing water. My husband asked, “Do you want to take a walk in the rain with me?” That was when everything changed. I don't see my husband as especially spontaneous so I sure wasn't going to pass up his offer.

We both donned sandals and shorts, him bare-headed and me tucked under the umbrella. We waded up the street splashing and feeling a bit like two kids in a world absent of grown-ups out of doors. It was a joyous little jaunt around 3 blocks. It reminded me of warm, summer rains in Ohio. My brother and I would race outside in the rain to splash in every puddle we could find; sometimes we splashed bare footed and other times we sprayed water riding our bikes through the pooled water. I love rainy days.

To think we were supposed to be camping this weekend with my husband's family. I have camped in the rain and I, for one, can say I am so relieved we decided not to go. Unless you are camping in a trailer it is the worst kind of stuck feeling. At least in my opinion.

Several summers back my family spent a rainy week camping in the Colorado Rockies. I had just finished a challenging master's program and we were planning on celebrating. Fortunately the trip wasn't a total wash out; my mom, step-dad and sister's family had rented a small house with a large porch. So while tents sat dreary and unwelcoming in pools of water, we spent hours huddled together playing games, eating, laughing, talking and reading. We spent more close moments together on that trip than on any other. Rain has a way of huddling everyone together in a relaxed sort of way. I love the rain! What do you like to do on rainy days?

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