Rainy Days and Mondays

     I hate to upset the balance of the universe, to irritate my fair weather friends, to destroy the world view of those of you who want to live in the desert--but I kinda like rainy days.  Even if they come on Monday.  I enjoy walking my acres on a misty, drizzly, gray day.  I put on my Nature Conservancy baseball cap ( I know they don't have a team).  Slip on my Ocean Conservancy rain jacket (I don't know why you would need a rain jacket in the ocean).  And then off I go walking--and singing--in the rain.  I wear that stuff so my neighbors can just shake their heads and say, "There goes that crazy environmentalist.  Doesn't know enough to come in out of the rain."  Keeps them from thinking I'm a total nut case--I'm just misled, which is a forgivable offense.
     But I actually love those walks.  The sound the rain makes as it falls to the ground, touches the leaves of the trees, sends the concentric circles across the puddles and the pond, all those things I enjoy.  There is something cathartic about it.  It's as if the rain reaches into my soul and cleanses the anxiety and cares away.  (Hmm, I'm starting to sound a little Transcendental there.  Thoreau would walk with me.  Emerson would say he's sure he would enjoy walking with me if it didn't get him all wet.)  It's amazing the effect the rain has on the flowers and grass.  It's as if it's actually green paint enriching everything.  And no matter how many days it has rained before, each rain brings more flowers and shrubs to life.  They know the sun will be coming later to enhance their growth, but it's the rain that calls their name and brings them out.  The birds, too, rejoice in the rain.  As I walk, I can hear them sing--in their shower, so to speak.  They love it.  And the robins love the worm feast!  I sometimes feel sorry for the robin.  He's a gorgeous black and orange, but so common we ignore his beauty.  He doesn't mind though; singing in the rain is his specialty, and he has no problem whatsoever with self-esteem.  A rainy walk is always accompanied with song.  
     I guess it's my oft professed melancholy nature that makes me love rainy days so.  If I was an artist, I know I would paint in grays and soft blues and greens.  I don't have the vision to be a painter; that's a gift God has given to others.  And a marvelous gift it is!  My favorite artist is Neil Riley.  I love his works.  Yes, lots of grays and soft blues.  He paints the extraordinarily ordinary things.  I look at his paintings and think, "I've been there," even though I haven't.  Oops, sorry for the rabbit trail.  Ahh, how the mind wanders when one is strolling blissfully through the wild area on a rainy day.
      Anyway, I don't mind if you complain about the rain.  Just remember that not all of us are complaining.  A few weird environmentally conscious chubby old bald men are enjoying the day.  I'm soaked clear through.  Time to go inside and take a nice warm shower and drink a cup of Lemon Lift hot tea.  Wet on wet.  Try it some time.  You won't melt.