Posted tagged ‘rain’

“Nothing is more highly to be prized than the value of each day”

June 10, 2010

It rained all night. I could hear it from the open window in my bedroom, and I fell asleep lulled by the rhythm of the drops. Though the rain has stopped, the sky is gray and the day is getting darker. My outside lights, timed for dusk, have been on all morning. The return of the rain is close.

I have a poor sense of time now, and I suspect I might be bragging. The days all run together. I go to bed when I’m tired and get up when I am so inclined. My clock radio broke a long time ago, and I didn’t replace it. I saw no need. On my little calendar I write notes to remind me of appointments or obligations. Most days the calendar is blank. Today is one of those days.

I have a list of favorite sorts of things. I’m not talking the big favorites like Christmas or my birthday but rather the simple ordinary day favorites. Lying on the couch on a snowy winter’s day with an afghan keeping me warm is one. Napping in the lull of an late afternoon is another. A book I can’t put down until it’s finished is high on the list as is a night sky bright with stars. I love the smell of burning wood. Chocolate, I can’t forget chocolate. It’s long been a favorite, black jelly beans and really hard Peeps too. I love cheeseburgers from the grill and watching baseball games. I wear my slippers all winter, and I love the way they keep my feet warm. Sweatshirts with pouches are my favorites. I don’t care so much about the hoods. B movies and black and white science fiction while away a rainy afternoon. Add popcorn to make it near perfect.

I’m living a rich life.

“But if we continue conducting nuclear tests… it’s possible that another Godzilla might appear somewhere in the world again.”

June 5, 2010

The day is dark and the weather threatening. Rain, predicted for today and tonight, is already palpable in the dampness of the air. Earlier I heard the first rumblings of thunder way off in the distance. The latest rumblings are much closer, nearer to the house. The storm is not so far away.

A rainstorm on a Saturday was never welcome when I was a kid. It meant staying home on the best day of the week. It meant whining about fate and my lot in life. Why me? Why Saturday? The house was small, and on a rainy weekend day we, the six of us, were crammed together. TV was the best diversion when we could agree on a program. Most times it was the morning cartoons and serials then movies in the afternoon. If we were lucky, it was an old horror film from the 30’s, a 50’s black and white B movie or a Japanese creature movie, where none of the characters’ mouths matched their dialogue. The atomic bomb was prominent and gave birth to some of my favorite B movie creatures. (Side note: the rain has started, and it’s tremendous. Thunder is overheard and rumbling constantly. I saw lightning in the front yard. All of the outside lights on timers are lit from the darkness brought by the rain. The windows in this room are open so I can hear the storm.) Now, back to the main feature. One of my favorite creatures created by a bomb blast is The Amazing Colossal Man, who became a nasty sort after the plutonium got him and the cure didn’t work. I totally understand his madness. Wearing a giant diaper is cause enough. I have often mentioned Them, the giant ants, as being my favorite of all, but Godzilla, with Raymond Burr added, is also a huge favorite though it does make me laugh now. I still have a special fondness for several of the creatures who came from beneath the sea.

It seems I have planned my rainy day. I’ll pull out my SciFi Classic 50 Movie Collection, pop some corn and get cozy. I think I’ll start with The Atomic Brain.

“How it pours, pours, pours, In a never-ending sheet! How it drives beneath the doors! How it soaks the passer’s feet!”

May 19, 2010

It was a mighty rain storm which started in the afternoon and continued all night into the morning. The oak tree branches swayed left and right blown by the wind. The candles and bird feeders on the lower branches bounced back and forth but none fell. I’ll go out later and empty all the candle holders brimming with rain water, add jelly to the orioles’ feeders and sunflower seeds to the other birds’ feeders. My kitchen floor is dog paw printed, and I have to overcome the urge to clean it as it will just get wet and muddy every time Gracie goes in and out.

I don’t ever see slip on shoe rubbers any more. My father had some. His were black just like everybody else’s were back then. I remember he’d use his thumb like a shoe horn to stretch the rubber to fit around the backs of his shoes. My father also had black galoshes for those days when rubbers weren’t protection enough from the snow. His galoshes went over his shoes and had metal clasps in the front. They were clunky looking and just didn’t fit in with his suit, top coat and fedora.

I remember see-through plastic raincoats. Women wore them, and they were once quite stylish and could be accessorized with see-through boots which fit over heels and see-through rain scarves to match. I used to have one of those rain scarves in a plastic case which was closed with a snap and was small enough to be kept in my bag for rain emergencies. The scarf was folded to a tiny size but, when unfolded, expanded to fit over my head. When I wore my scarf, it always had accordion creases from being folded. It was pretty darn ugly.

The only rain gear I have now are a couple of nylon jackets, but I don’t ever wear them. Most times I run from the house to the car to the store to the car to the house.  The  faster I run, the dryer I stay.

“Rain is grace; rain is the sky condescending to the earth; without rain, there would be no life.”

May 8, 2010

Thunder boomed directly over the house this morning, and I swear the room shook. Gracie and I woke up, both of us a bit startled for the moment, but neither one of us had any trouble getting back to sleep. As I was drifting off, I could hear the thunder rumbling farther and farther away from us. I guess it stopped by just long enough to announce the rain.

Today has that quiet a rain shower seems to bring. It is still day, not even a leaf flutters. The room is dark, the way I like it on a rainy day.

When we were kids, Saturday was our day. It started with Saturday morning television and breakfast in front of the set, always cereal with lots of milk. We got to watch old friends like Howdy and Buffalo Bob and all those western heroes. I’m still partial to Annie Oakley though Sky King isn’t far behind her. The rest of the day was ours to do whatever we wanted. Sometimes it was the Saturday matinee while other times it was exploring on bikes or on foot. A rainy day, as long as it wasn’t pouring, was never a deterrent. I don’t ever remember my mother telling us to stay inside because of the rain. I suspect she was glad to get rid of us.

Walking through the field and the wet grass got us soaked. My sneakers and the cuffs on my dungarees were saturated and filthy, but I was a kid so I didn’t care, probably barely noticed. That would be my mother’s job. We’d roam the woods, sword fight with sticks, play at the swamp and watch the two horses in the pasture on Green Street. If it started to rain, we’d run for cover under trees heavy with leaves. One of the best sounds in the whole world is rain hitting the leaves overhead one drop at a time.