The rain moves to its own rhythm

Woke up this morning to thunderstorms and heavy rain. Even though I’m no longer working, we settle into certain patterns which can easily be disturbed.

The first thing about heavy rain in the morning is that Rocco the wonder dog needs to go outside and do what dogs do outside. If dogs were ever to be jealous of cats, it would be on these rainy mornings but then a big dog is not going to be able to use a tiny litter box. I tried to convince him to do a full bathroom break but he just peed a few times and sat there in the rain looking at me. Dog logic fail – he was still getting wet but standing in the rain was apparently better than attempting to finish his bathroom break.

So I made us breakfast and he slept next to me while the thunder rolled and lightning flashed. Normally, I would have the newspaper but it was down at the end of our long driveway and I didn’t feel like walking through the rain to get it. Sorry, Rocco but you have to go out in the rain but I don’t.

After the worst had passed, I knew Rocco still had unfinished business so I sent him back outside where he reluctantly finished what he needed to do. I walked down to get the paper which was now a soggy mess. The little plastic bags just don’t do the trick. These days, I mostly just read the comics because there is too much depressing stuff in the rest of the paper. Many of the comics aren’t really all that funny but it feels like I’ve invested so much time in the characters that I have to keep reading.

Our driveway is a big curve that goes downhill. Sometime ago, to help with drainage, someone put a bunch of small rocks on the edge. But rain is powerful and many were swept out into the driveway. That required me to get a shovel and broom and sweep them up and put them back where they belong. Another unexpected benefit of the early rain. Thought about whether that was enough exercise for the day but then realized I was being silly.

The funny thing about something like this is that had I still been working I probably would have been at work when the rains came. So I wouldn’t have noticed the present left in the driveway until I got home. When I was working, I would let things like that stress me out too much. It wasn’t so much the work required to move the rocks but the unexpected additional task that interfered with my other plans.

In the past, there could be a pretty tight schedule between work and dance. On dance days, I’d have to get home, feed the dogs, start and eat dinner and then get ready for my lesson. Something as small as having to take a few minutes to clear rocks would just toss a wrench into things and I’d feel stress that I really shouldn’t have.

I think it is far too easy to fall into that trap. Where you’ve blocked your life into 15 minute time blocks and everything has to run perfectly for things to get done. And the problem is that life doesn’t run perfectly. The rain doesn’t care about your day planner. It runs on its own time. We stress out over the little irritations that interrupt our well laid plans rather than just going with the flow.

So, even though my day didn’t start as I intended, I still got in my workout. While I was doing that, the ideas for this post just kind of bubbled up so I just sat down at the keyboard to see where they would take me. Not my normal routine but it seemed like the thing to do.

When I was sweeping up the rocks, I was thinking that this is the non glamorous part of owning a house. Nobody will magically come and clean up for you. I don’t think this is really related but it is kind of funny that one bill I have to pay today is the mortgage and we are actually down to the last few payments. It will all be paid for next month. Our ability to pay off this mortgage way ahead is directly related to decisions and plans we made when we bought our first house almost 30 years ago. Strange to think that way but it is true.

Sometimes, you need to stick to plans. Sometimes, you just let the rains come and adjust when then are done.