Rain and Rudy

I am at my law office on a Friday morning and its raining.  I did not realize it was raining until I heard the sound of rain against my window. In surprise, I looked up from the contract I was reading and saw the city streets below wet from rain.  Its been a dry summer and rain is appreciated.  It made me think about where I liked to be when it is raining.  I suppose I have several such places, depending upon the season or even the time of day.

In the few times in Utah when it is raining in on a summer evening, around dusk, I like to sit on the covered portion of our deck in an easy chair with my feet resting on an ottoman. I like to hear the thunder and I even like to be a little nervous as the lightning streaks across the sky.  There are two of these easy chairs on our deck with a single ottoman between them.  I like it on a summer evening when the Lovely sharon and I both have our feet on this single ottoman, side by side, with coolness in the air and the sound of rain on the roof.  The sounds of birds and insects have been silenced, no sounds of lawn mowers from the neighboring houses. The only sound is the rain.  The rain pouring out of and over the rain gutter is compelling to watch as it twists and moves in different forms and shapes. Are these shapes random or is there some systematic reason they twist and turn as they do.

For me the coolness of the air is invigorating and feels good against my skin. After the heat of the summer, it feels good to shiver from the cool air.  I know before we sit in our easy chairs, the Lovely Sharon will grab a blanket out of the ottoman and will cover her entire body from her chin to her toes and all I will see of her is her blond hair and lovely face.  She will almost be lying down, scrunch down in the chair with her legs straight out on the ottoman with her feet pointing straght up under the blanket.  On these occasions our conversation is quiet with long pauses between comments as we listen to rain and thunder and watch the rain fall. Inevitably Sharon will look at the decorative lattice work hanging from the patio roof and will say "we need to paint it".  She has said this for about three years and my response is always the same; "ok".  I bet one of these I will actually paint it.  Maybe within the next two years.Maybe a little more.

We have a rubber plant on the deck, which sits next to my easy chair. We named the plant Rudy and he has been with us for  at least 5 or 6 years, maybe longer.  A few years back Sharon said Rudy had  come to the end of his useful life and it was time to get rid of him.  I complained and argued and tried to convince her he still had plenty of life left.  Nonetheless I took him out to the trash bin and sadly dropped him in.  The next day he was back on the patio in his usual place.  Sharon, whether in an act of remorse, or reconsideration, or just to pacify me, had gone to the trash bin and removed Rudy brought him back to the deck.  That was at least three years ago. After that Rudy seem to flourish, no doubt realizing how close he came to being discarded.  During the winters we bring him in the house.  This year he did not seem to get through the winter as well as in previous years.  He lost a lot of leaves and he still is looking meager.  Sometimes he appears to be just a stick in the dirt with a few green leaves glued on.  The Lovely Sharon has not said much about getting rid of him this year so I am pretty certain he has at least another year with us.Maybe the coolness of this morning's rain will rejuvenate Rudy.  As I get older, I wonder when I will be reaching the end of my useful life.  Maybe that is why I want to keep Rudy around, to somehow reassure me there are plenty of miles left on me.

I am not certain why today's rain made me think about sitting with Sharon on the deck, but it did.  Now back to my contract.