“Not all those who wander are lost.”
Today is the day: USA versus Germany. The game starts at noon, my time. Extended lunches are the order of the day. Lots of sickness going around as well. I think it is the 24 hour flu.
It was raining when I woke up early this morning. Gracie went out, did what she needed to then ran right back inside. The paper wasn’t here yet. I was reading my e-mail when I heard the thump of the paper hitting the driveway. Just then the heavens opened, and it poured. The rain seemed to be coming straight down in torrents. Gracie and I watched from the front door. Rain mesmerizes both of us.
Summer and screen doors go together. When I was young, doors didn’t shut slowly. They slammed. Every time one of us went out, the door slammed behind us. My mother always yelled, “Don’t slam the door.” If I had known the word delusional back then, I would have used it to describe her and the other mothers because all over the neighborhood you could hear mothers yelling and doors slamming.
Summer rain never kept us inside the house. Getting wet was no big deal. My mother didn’t care. She was just happy to be rid of us. We’d walk in the woods where the trees were so filled with leaves we never got too wet. Other times we’d ride our bikes, but riding bikes on a rainy day meant taking care as sand along the side of the road was slippery and would sometimes cause us to skid and fall. Other times we’d skid on purpose to leave tire tracks behind us. The longest tracks won.
I got lost twice as a kid. The first time I didn’t realize I was lost. I just thought I was exploring with my brother. My family had just moved into a new house, and my brother and I decided to check out the neighborhood. We went through the field below our house, kept walking into the woods and came out on a street just beyond where the woods ended. We kept walking. We found a stream behind some houses and stayed a while to float leaves. When we walked back to the main street, a police car stopped, asked our names then had us get in and they took us home. Our parents had gotten scared and called the police. We didn’t know where we were or where our house was, but we didn’t care. It was the adventure which was fun. I was five and my brother was four.
The second time I got lost was at the drive-in. I was in my pajamas and robe. When I needed to go to the bathroom, I went alone. I assured my parents I’d be fine. I found the bathroom but couldn’t find the car. I roamed up and down the aisles and finally went to the refreshment stand. They called over the car speakers for the parents of Kathleen Ryan to come, and my father did. I was about six or seven.
I have the most amazing sense of direction. I never get lost even when I’ve somewhere I haven’t been before. I just somehow find my way. I don’t go to the drive-in any more.
Explore posts in the same categories: MusingsTags: drive-in, lost police, riding bikes in the rain, screen doors, slamming doors, USA and Germany, walking in the rain, \exploring
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keepthecoffeecoming.blog 
June 26, 2014 at 10:29 am
“Bugger Bochum” (with apologies to Bognor and some random king)
It will be fab…USA USA USA
June 26, 2014 at 10:36 am
My Dear Hedley,
Apologies unnecessary I think.
Fab! Fab!
June 26, 2014 at 11:52 am
Checklist:
– TV is on, – dinner is prepared, – German beer in the fridge, – soccer beer glasses (World Cup 2006), – American cookies as dessert. I’m ready for the match.
Go German team! (I have to, can’t help it.)
June 26, 2014 at 11:58 am
Birgit,
I thoroughly understand! The German anthem is now playing. I haven’t made lunch yet, but it will be quick, a sandwich only. It is really raining at that game. I wonder how soggy the field is.
Go USA!!
June 26, 2014 at 2:24 pm
Well, not really a great game, but I like the result and that both teams reached the next round.
Quick trip to the Netherlands tomorrow, no soccer, no internet, just sightseeing, strolling along the river and probably the first bands of a free open air music festival.
June 26, 2014 at 2:36 pm
Birgit,
USA was not expected to advance so we are quite happy with the result.
Your trip sounds wonderful. Just hop on over to the Netherlands! Love it!!
Have a wonderful time.
June 26, 2014 at 2:46 pm
Birgit – Enjoy your visit to the Netherlands. Perhaps if you drink enough of that German Beer you might find yourself enjoying your special song today
June 26, 2014 at 3:18 pm
Hedley, thanks. Beer is barely sufficient for this song, I should try Dutch jenever… Cheers!
June 26, 2014 at 12:54 pm
Hi Kat,
I never got lost as a child. I wandered all over whatever place I was in but I was never lost. I only get lost in Boston if I am driving. Everywhere else, I’m good.
The rain was bucketing down here as well this morning. There were several bouts of it before 8AM. Looks like there may be some more coming in, too. It’s very murky outside and very humid. The temperature has cooled considerably, though.
Enjoy the game and the day.
June 26, 2014 at 1:15 pm
Hi Caryn,
I had only lived in that town a day or two and we were about 6 blocks away but we didn’t get the chance to find our way home.
It is getting really dark again here so I figure rain is close. It is really muggy.
Thanks!
US down 1-0!
June 26, 2014 at 1:29 pm
I told you I don’t know the first thing about soccer. I had to look up how long matches are and ran across this page. Thought it might be helpful to any others who may be as clueless as I am:
http://www.vox.com/2014/6/10/5793632/10-things-non-soccer-fans-need-to-know-about-the-world-cup
June 26, 2014 at 1:38 pm
im6,
That was mostly informational.
That was a great article. I know the basics about soccer but not the nuances. I am the same about American football. Baseball is the one game about which I know just about everything.
June 26, 2014 at 2:03 pm
Right – next match is Tuesday July 1 at 4.00 pm as the USA gets out of the group of death, and likely faces Belgium and their Flemish and Walloon team
USA USA
June 26, 2014 at 2:37 pm
My Dear Hedley,
I am so thrilled that the group of death did not do in the USA. I’ll be watching on Tuesday!
June 26, 2014 at 2:47 pm
Kat, it is terribly exciting. You can get a peek at Belgium in the 4.00 pm game today.
June 26, 2014 at 2:57 pm
Thank you, MDH.
June 27, 2014 at 12:51 am
This post reminds me that before my visit, I would never have linked Kuwait and rain. Now, I know that it can rain torrents there and that major floods every four or five years are expected.
My son works for a security company there and last fall they had a rain and flood that lasted for almost 10 hours. The streets were running rivers and cars were apparently floating everywhere, mostly down stream. He send pictures of the running water moving cement road dividers large enough to divert tanks (war machines, not water tanks) down the road. It took them, in conjunction with the Kuwati army three days to open all the roads on base and another week to patch up the majority of them. He said they were very lucky that the wind didn’t whip up a sand (mud) storm along with the rain.
June 27, 2014 at 9:45 am
Carl,
I also would not link Kuwait and rain. I’d be thinking dry and desert-like.
It is like a monsoon season or rather like the rainy and dry seasons or just rain? Ghana floods during the rainy season and roads have washed away cutting off villages from main roads. The last time I was there the road was covered in many places.
June 27, 2014 at 9:58 am
In the ‘winter time’, most like our summer, it is very dry and seldom rains. But during the hot summer, short, violent thunderstorms occur which can be accompanied by sand storm for a wonderful mud falling from the sky. They appear to come in groups as the fronts zing across the continent and bang up against the sea on the Kuwaiti coast line.
Spring time is usually the time that the “normal” rain occurs. And at times it is so heavy that the water has difficulty finding a place to go. I would have thought that it would just penetrate the sand and it does for a short depth, but most runs off on man made paths to the sea. Which, by the way, is about the only refreshment there is for the sea at the Kuwait end of the Gulf.
Carl
June 27, 2014 at 10:15 am
Carl,
I think I would like to watch the sand storms, inside of course. Normal rain does sound so unlike what I think of that whole region.