Thursday, March 22, 2012

Rainy day

“Loves long walks in the rain along the water.” No, that was not my profile for an on-line dating service. I like walks along the water rain or shine. This morning I dropped the car off for a small maintenance job and walked to school along the water. First I walked along the river, then I switched to walking along the canal. This afternoon I get to repeat the trip. I’m looking forward to it. This morning’s walk was nice, as walks always are. The pace of walking lends itself to a different kind of thinking than cycling does and walks in town lead to different thinking than walks in natural areas. Town walks seem to lead me more to getting tasks mentally arranged and helping develop better ways to handle the upcoming steps that need to be handled for ongoing projects. The rain was just a minor drizzle so the Frog Togs may not have been completely necessary. Still it was nice to arrive completely dry. Rain suits are fun that way, makes me feel like I’m in a protective cocoon. Waders are even more fun that way since one feels completely invulnerable to water, or at least to a particular depth with surety of footing and not too much current (hmm…what happened to invulnerability?) Walking this morning, I recalled a particular day as a kid playing in the pools of water standing in our neighbors back yards. The back yards were not cross fenced and it was OK with the neighbors to play in what was virtually a large commons. The water drained into one persons yard. Of course as kids we didn’t worry about that standing water leading to water in the basement. We were kids, not middle aged homeowners. I also recalled a day in college where several of us went out and literally frolicked in a warm afternoon rain shower, even body sliding through standing water. It was the 70s but yes, we did have all of our clothes on. I get a special feeling while looking out over a river or lake on a rainy day, seeing the top of the lake or river -- the surface water -- and the water in the atmosphere. Looking across a great lake when one cannot tell on the horizon where the water in the air stops and the water in the lake begins makes for an even more special feeling. Rainy days, gotta love ‘em even if March should still be XC Ski season.

2 comments:

  1. Water has been on my mind a lot lately (figuratively...I hope), I'm not exactly sure why, maybe it's my deep sense of gratitude for being surrounded by so much of it in northern Michigan.

    While reading this morning I came across this writing about water and even rewrote it in my journal so thought I'd share since this morning's post was about rain.

    "Water, in its ebb and flow, manifests
    strength born of movement.
    Nothing so gentle, so
    adaptable as water.
    Yet it can wear away that
    which is hardest and strongest." -Lao-tse

    I've learned some profound lessons by observing nature, such as strength may be more about adaptability and gentleness and that nature has a way of depersonalizing things, which is quite refreshing. I had that insight while backpacking at Pictured Rocks. I was walking along Lake Superior within feet of waves crashing along the trail and realized that there was a possibility that a wave could knock me over and potentially take me back into the depths of Superior. I also realized that there was no "intention" associated with that event. It was quite a freeing thought, and one I try to keep in mind while interacting with humans. I believe the less we make something about us, the more open and vulnerable we become, which helps us to be kinder to each other and to the earth.

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