Rainy Day

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Yesterday was a rainy day. Not the usual rainy day in this burg where it rains in the morning then clears off or clear in the morning then rains in the afternoon. Yesterday was different. It started to rain before sunrise and continued all day.

Now I was never a guy who was an outside kid. Instead I stayed in my room through most of my childhood, but things are different now.

Everyday at eleven o’clock, I must go outside. I must feel the sunshine against my face. I must view the yard. I must listen to the sounds in the wind.

Perhaps it is a reason to get out of the house? Perhaps it is a reason to avoid being a slug in the house? Perhaps it is just changing the scene?

For whatever reason, yesterday I was trapped in the house. Just like being locked into a jail ceil, I couldn’t go out and enjoy my day. I couldn’t ride my bike. I couldn’t feel the wind in my face. I couldn’t fill my lungs with fresh air. I couldn’t stretch out my arms and legs in a brief exercise.

The house is warm and dry and safe, full of lots of toys and projects that I could get involved with, but I just wanted to get out. Like a cornered cat, I would stare out the window and pace back and forth trying to find something to get my attention.

Television is a bad partner as it always has been but it is an easy escape. A book might be an escape or music or cooking, but the lamp is in storage and I have no book I want to read and the music on the radio I’ve listened to too much and the kitchen is none existent, so I drown myself in bad television.

The evening comes and the rain slacks off. Everything is soaking wet outside, but I put on my jeans and walk out into the dark. There is something that draws me out there.

I use the excuse that I have a sweet tooth craving, so I pull out the pony and ride through the wet streets. I get a view of the leftover Christmas lights on my ride back splashing through the puddles.

Out in “Man’s Land” I stuff myself with a half of apple pie for dinner believing this is better than cookies or chocolate cake.

Satisfied to be outside is accentual to my life. I know it and I live with it.

Today, the sunshine has come back and the songs are in the air. Knowing the critter crewe had a more difficult day than I did, I put out additional treats for them. Then again, they didn’t miss a beat with the seed I left on the covered deck or the coffee cake made by my neighbor.

In the long run, it is not the place that is warm and comfortable or full of treasures that makes you happy. It is the place you are at ease.