Singin' in the Rain

Rainy days don’t really get me down. I think it’s a state of mind that few are willing to overcome because it’s easier to bitch about rain that to get on your galoshes and embrace it. I want these galoshes in case you’re in Scotland and can fit them in your suitcase. Sure, endless days of pouring rain is a little outdoor-activity-limiting but I’m kind of an indoor girl anyway.

There’s something comforting about the low clouds and thick air that wraps itself around you. Hermitting myself inside with a fire, slumbering dogs, a good movie, and candy while the rain hammers the roof is one of my favorite things to do.Well, would be if I had a fireplace … one day.

But then there are those misers who hate the rain. I live with one. Miserable, depressed, sulky, moody, and if she could speak would definitely blame me for the water coming out of the sky. Halo. She takes it as a personal insult that someone is SPITTING on her. How rude! Snow is marginally better since it’s not actually wet when it touches her but it’s definitely a close second.

So what do I do? I go to the park in the rain because I love it, The Boy doesn’t much care and I get a little tickle seeing Halo’s reaction to being forced to deal with water above and water below. As Raimi and I headed to the truck in a steady spitting rain Halo beelined to the upstairs neighbour’s covered step and watched with a baleful eye. When she was quite quite sure I intended to actually go she Warp 9ed it to the truck.

Once at the park I thought she might perk up with all the smells and the bouncing Boy enticing her with play. If anything her sense of acute injustice increased. Physically Halo became the epitome of misery – back hunched, neck stretched out, head low, eyes squinched up, ears cupped close, tail tucked, and the best of the best – walking like she’s wearing diapers. You know the walk … the one where each footfall is as far from the other feet as possible so that any splashes do not reach the tummy or the other leg. It’s HI-larious.

All this is foiled of course when The Boy comes bounding by and sideswipes her causing immeasurable damage to her mood and comfort. There is a brief moment of activity but it is limited to her telling Raimi to get the hell away from her. Mostly Raimi spends his time doing sliding stops and leaping back and forth across puddles but when Momma catches his eye he just has to get her a little annoyed and dirty.

I stop to take in the wonderful green, peaceful countryside(in the middle of the city) and listen to the patter of rain on my umbrella, the rush of water down the little creek and fill my nose with the smell of spring well and truly sprung. Raimi would stop too – listening – and then bound forward with glee kicking up clods of mud and skidding across the grass. Halo makes her way from tree to tree pretending to be very interested in the smells under the protective foliage.

I seem to spend my life annoying Halo. She returns the favor often enough to pretty much call it even. However she’s probably keeping tally of all the times I make her walk in the rain to come up with something I’ll really hate.