May 13 2009
Getting Up on Rainy Days (batteries - swimmer - ceramics)
On rainy days, I thank God for the batteries in my alarm clock. I’ve managed to retain at least one quality from my childhood, the love of a good night’s sleep, and rainy days make it all the worse. Something about the rain on the window pain, the roof, the porch; the soothing sound repeating and repeating, with the wind occasionally interjecting a soft hush….. it’s so hard, so very hard to leave the comfort of the lovely wonderland I have made for myself here in this bed, and old habits die hard. When I was younger, and an avid swimmer, the sound of rain was the only sound that let me sleep in, anything else meant the heart-stopping buzz of the 5 am wake up call was really a call to get up and begin training, but rain washed all that away. Rain was someone’s way of saying, “Not today, our little girl gets to sleep in”. Instead of the sudden cold of the pool, the blurry view of the sky from two or three feet down, and the cold slippery feel of the pool tile beneath my feet, rain meant warmth, and comfort. Even today, when I swim only for fun and fitness, not the fierce competitiveness that haunted my youth, I wish, just a little, for rain when my toes first hit those ceramics.
