Even though today is a summer day, the temperature is in the 50s and it’s pouring rain. I am glad that I went for a very long walk yesterday morning, when the sun was shining. It’s true that the temperatures yesterday were also somewhat brisk, but I didn’t care. I love the sun shining on my face.
Sunshine makes it extra good, but it’s not a must-have when it comes to walking. For many years now, I have had a strategy that I call “Opportunity knocks.” If it isn’t pouring, I am going for a walk. I have a nice raincoat. I have sturdy rain boots. I have a reliable rain hat. And I keep my rain gear together, ready to go, hanging on the coat tree by the back door. If farmers can do it, then so can I. When I was a little girl, we played outside in all kinds of weather.
I remember that when my daughter — now a mother herself — was a child, she loved being outside in the rain. From our living room window, I would watch her outside on the driveway, stamping hard in the puddles, over and over, for the sheer delight of feeling the water rise up around her and catch her inside a fountain of sorts.
There are some serious baseball fans in my family, and I have noticed that the baseball games are not cancelled when there’s a threat of rain. They start on schedule, and they play, and they keep on playing even when the water starts to drip off the fronts of the players’ caps. It’s only when the water starts to come down in sheets too heavy for the pitcher to see through that they finally call a delay. To my way of thinking, a delay is really just a way of saying that the field needs to be covered while they wait for the rain to let up enough to get back to it. So I guess I am taking a page from professional baseball’s rule book. If it’s not pouring, I’m going for a walk. Rain smells great (i.e., petrichor), and it makes a beautiful soft rushing sound when you listen for it.
If the sun is shining, I’m still gonna get out there for a walk. No waiting until later in the afternoon, and no more finishing all my chores first. If I see that the sun is shining, I am going outside! You have to take advantage of opportunity when it comes, strike when the iron is hot. Opportunity favors the prepared. This is northeast Ohio, and the sun is not something to be taken for granted around here.
Thank you for this – and for your weekly updates. I have been reading for years, and have learned so much from you.
I was recently on vacation in a midwest city where each day was excessively hot and humid. That said, we walked a lot, humidity be damned. We went to a ballgame with the threat of rain, in fact the rain began and was even a little hard, hard enough for us to briefly take refuge inside. The game went on and it all stopped.
In April I was in Juneau, AK at a conference and I noticed that people had good rain gear and winter gear so that they could walk every day.
All of this has influenced me greatly. I got some new gear myself! Yet when I am home I get lazy… too hot, too cold, too rainy. Today however, I got up early and got in a couple of miles before the true heat and humidity set in. Then I came home and read this. Thanks for the reinforcement. Off to make a fruit and yogurt thing for breakfast. Sure, I would love a big fat bagel with a schmear, but it would not love me!
That is wonderful — i am so pleased to serve as an inspiration for you! Thank you for writing in, and be well. RBS