When a Walk in the Rain Is the Most Relaxing Exertion of the Day

"Getting caught in the warm, wet deluge that particular day in that terrible summer full of wars and fires that made no sense was a wonderful thing to have happen. It taught me to understand rain, not to dread it. There were going to be days, I knew, when it would pour without warning, days when I'd find myself without an umbrella. But my understanding would act as my all-purpose slicker and rubber boots. It was preparing me for stormy weather, arming me with the knowledge that no matter how hard it seemed, it couldn't rain forever. At some point, I knew, it would come to an end."
-- Antwone Quenton Fisher, Finding Fish: A Memoir" (Retrieved from www.good.read.com)


I don't have a poncho. I don't have a slicker. I don't have rubber boots, and if we have an umbrella, I have no idea where it is. 

Superdawg and  I just usually walk when it rains. It is often the most relaxing time of the day.

That was certainly the case today. I had gotten up early to go to the hospital to visit heart patients and prepare for our monthly Mended Hearts meeting. There was no time to walk Superdawg before leaving; she had to settle for a quick "necessity" dash into the woods.

Later, after presiding over our meeting, and then chit-chat over a delicious lunch provided by the hospital cafeteria afterwards (yes, you read that right, delicious), I was worn out by the time I got home, and I had only a half-hour before I needed to pick up the grandkids from school.

Sadie hadn't had her daily walk.

It was still raining (as it's supposed to do for two more days).

And my Dear Wife was lecturing me about going easy on my bad knee and cooling it on the walking. (No way, DW, walking is what I do.)

So loyal dog and I set out in the rain. And all the cares melted away. At the pond, we saw a magnificent bird -- a great blue heron, a wading bird that is an utterly spectacular sight beside a shoreline.

The heron didn't seem bothered that it was raining.

Neither were we.

You don't have to be dancing and crooning "Singing in the Rain" a la the late, great Gene Kelly to appreciate the feeling of being unchained from conformity by strolling in a downpour. It is a cleansing for the soul.

Superdawg and I had only a half-hour. We made the most of it.

Let it rain, let it rain, let it rain -- for as the Luke Bryan song asserts boldly, "Rain Is a Good Thing."

© Robert G.Holland  2013