A Rainy Day & A Huffy Ten Speed

It is freakin raining....again.  

I gotta say, I'm longing for some sun, some blue sky, some free time outside, but it just isn't happening.

I have a love/hate relationship with rainy days.  I always sleep sounder when it's raining, I love storms, I don't have to water the lawn, and by nature I'm an 'enjoy the dark' kinda person so I'm usually welcoming to this kind of weather.  

On the other side, I know I'm somewhat prone to depression so too much of a good thing simply isn't.   I also need to be active and rain seems to prevent that.

My main rainy day memory is a good one.  

It was raining on my tenth birthday, and my older sister gave me her brand new ten speed bike as a present.  I was beyond excited as I had been coveting that metal steed the whole week.   It was a baby blue (mens) Huffy ten speed, the coolest bike around and it represented so much fun and freedom to my ten year old self. 

I had opened her card feeling blue and found the key to her bike lock.   She wrote, "Geoff you already have the key to my heart, so I'm giving you the key to your new bike.'   I was so excited I raced out to the back patio to exercise the ownership which came with the small key.   I couldn't ride because it was really pouring, but I stood there practically stroking my new gift while the rain hit the metal patio cover-- so much fun at my finger tips...so much freedom, just out of reach.  

You might think that's a bad memory as far as the rain is concerned, but it isn't.   It was an integral part of that day so many years ago, and I guess it's a good life lesson.    It's good to have delays in life like the rain was for me on that birthday.   Maybe the rain makes us appreciate the joyous sunny days more than we would otherwise, and whose to say we can't find joy in the delays themselves? 

After all, I can still hear those very raindrops today.