Thursday, September 10, 2009

Rambling about the Rain

"Rain, rain go away - come back some other day" I said as I looked up to a sky filled with angry gray clouds. We had some rainy weather recently. Rain poses a few challenges for us. We have to strategically plan when to send the dogs outside for "potty breaks" between rain showers. That's followed by us wrestling the dogs to wipe off wet (possibly muddy) feet. Shelby goes through tennis ball withdrawal. Bianca just wants a warm lap. Tiffany poses no problems on rainy days as she simply finds a spot to nap all day.


Exercising is also a challenge for us during rainy weather. Since May, Ira and I have enjoyed a "lifestyle" change. We have reduced the size of our dinner portions, eat sensible breakfasts and enjoy bowls of fruit for our lunches. We also started walking after lunch. This consists of a brisk stroll to our mailbox and back - roughly 1.5 miles. We also play badminton every evening after dinner; usually the best 3 out of 5 games.




But when it rains - Ira and I don't get to take our walk and we have to postpone our badminton tournament until the rain clears. Instead, we play games on our Wii, but it just isn't the same.




However, we have "Plan B"...we have a treadmill (or "dreadmill", as I
like to call it!). One rainy day I decided that I was going to have my
walk - no matter what! So I boarded the treadmill and started my trek. I finished my 1.5 mile stroll in around 25 minutes.




I "discovered" something while walking on the treadmill. When it rains, I miss our walk on our road. Ira and I almost always notice something new on our walks. Sometimes it's tracks on the road left by deer or wild turkeys. In the past couple of weeks, we've noticed the first few leaves changing color. After several days of rain we see lots of colorful (and probably poisonous) mushrooms. The most important thing that we miss during rainy days is "our time". This is time that we spend together without the interruption of phones, e-mails, or even the dogs. While we walk, we enjoy having conversations. We find all kinds of things to talk about; from places we'd like to visit to stories from our respective childhoods.




While we don't have a plan to save the world from impending doom, we are making life better in our own little place on the planet...one step at a time.

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