Norman Knight
It’s raining, it’s pouring and the old man is snoring has been the predominate weather situation throughout this soggy spring. It has been tempting to stay inside. We can’t do much in the garden or on the property except during brief dry spurts. These opportunities to stay in make us appreciate the ability to look at radar on our phones. And speaking of smartphone radar and tracking spurts of no rain, Becky went out running this morning with neighbor Kelly after checking with Big Tech. She made it back just as the rain started again.
“Rain, rain; go away.” I think to myself, but, really, I could use a little quiet inside time. Although running in a reasonably soft rain does indeed have its pleasures, there will be no running for me today. And, clearly, with such a cloudy gray sky there will be no gardening. I’ll call it a “rest day.” However, a rest day doesn’t necessarily mean I’ll be an old man snoring the hours away. I have a song and a little something I wrote for church that I could go over for Sunday. Some projects inside the house could use my attention. No, I have no reason for such a rainy day to get me down.
Still, I could easily talk myself into climbing into the chair next to the big window with some reading material. I always have plenty to read. I am thinking of a recent Bizarro comic titled: “English lit. professor after hours.” The professor is holding a book in one hand and a newspaper in the other. An angel floats over his right shoulder while a devil hovers over the left one. The angel whispers, “Revisit a classic novel.” While the devil purrs, “Skim the funnies.” This visual sums up my dilemma when it comes to reading. I want to read great literature and appreciate fine artistic writing while considering the human condition. I want to improve my mind and my soul. But I also enjoy being mindlessly entertained. It’s the difference between a fine dining experience and munching potato chips—and I will admit to occasionally opting for potato chips.
The forecast is for rain to continue off and on throughout the day and into tomorrow morning, so I should have time to sit in my chair and read both the deep and the shallow. As a child I read “Highlights for Children” as well as other periodicals for kids. Sometimes they had articles on things for kids to do inside on rainy days—build a fort with blankets and pillows; make paper airplanes; draw or color; make music; make flip books; make a collage; cook something. For the outdoorsy adventurists with moms who didn’t mind the resulting mess of mud, soppy clothes and wet towels, a child could get suited up in colorful rain boots and raincoats and go splashing in puddles.
All great ideas, but I am not sure how many of them I am prepared to try on this particular day. I suppose I could cook up a big pot of soup. Or I could just call my big chair a blanket/pillow fort and be happy with that. Going outside later for a walk in the rain with Becky might be welcome after some quiet time sitting and reading. I would need to get my boots and raincoat which are not all that colorful, but still. And I would need to accept and deal with the resulting mess when we came back inside. So many possibilities.
