Rain, Rain, Go Away . . .

. . . come again when I can sleep in!

There's nothing like sleeping in on a rainy morning, is there?Too bad I had to get up. And of course, the dogs don't care if it's raining or not - walk time is walk time! So I gear up and head out in the pouring rain.

It's actually not too bad if you're dressed for it. I have waterproof pants and jacket. The only thing I don't have is duck boots. Remember duck boots???

I suppose it's time to embrace the rain. I'll be running in it, no doubt, during my training. I remember one brutal 18-miler in the cold rain a couple of years back. I've already mentioned I tend to be cold most of the time, right? Imagine me running for about 3 hours in the cold rain. I couldn't keep my leg muscles warm . . . it was one of the worst runs I've ever had.

Hmm . . . I'm sounding grumpy. I'm not, really. I like the rain. It's good for the flowers. I even enjoy walking the dogs in the rain. It's walking to WORK in the rain that sucks. I mean think of it; you dress "nicely" and by the time you get to work, your socks squish inside your shoes and your pants are soaked from the mid-thigh down. It gives "casual Friday" a whole new meaning when you've stripped down to your skivies in order to dry your pants out!

I'm looking forward to the warmer, dryer weather. Is it just me, or has this been an unusually cool spring for DC? Of course, now that I've said that, we're going to skip the 70 - 80 degree weather entirely and jump from 60 to 90!

Ahhh . . . summer in DC. Hot, humid, code red air quality days . . . I get all teary-eyed just thinking about it. Of course the tears aren't from the longing for those lazy, hazy days - they're from the smog burning my eyes.

Hasn't anybody heard of public transportation? Or riding your bike? Or walking?

There's been a lot of talk about gas prices lately . . . and what we can do about our consumption of fuel. Umm . . . haven't the solutions been clear for a long time? I mention three in the previous paragraph. Get out of your Hummer and onto your bike. I mean really, this isn't the Gulf War! But no, let's go destroy one of our last pristine places so those Hummer owners can fill their gas tanks and get a tax break in the process!

Don't get me started . . . NOW I'm grumpy.

I know how to cool off . . . I'll go for a walk . . . in the rain.