Who'll Stop The Rain?

Buddy and I have been sitting on the porch listening to the rain, she in a sleep stupor and me with a book. The view is tempting and draws my attention away for moments at a time because there is a constant change going on. The rain starts slanted in one direction but the next time you look it is coming from another direction and maybe not as slanted. The metal roof accentuates the audible hits of rain  but the water coming from the drainpipe on the second floor nearly can drown out the rhythmic and soothing sound. Several cardinals topped out on the fir trees which I call bird condos because many nests can be found among the branches. A bright yellow goldfinch sat on the top of the swing stand for a good while before flying off to places unknown. Buddy has slowed down quite a bit and while the chirping, singing and sounds of birds still intrigue her, she's not all that interested. She spends a lot of time sniffing as if taking in the fragrance of the rain cooled air is something she wants to commit to memory. OK, I am waxing poetic there, she probably just doesn't sniff as good as she did before. Evenings seem to be the hardest time for her. She meows quite a bit and even looks like she's confused and doesn't know where she is or who I am. After a bit she settles at the end of the bed. I did some research this morning on how to help her have an easier time and tonight I will begin some of those suggestions and see if they work.

With this being the second rainy day of several in the forecast there are things that I have been putting off that are getting taken off the to do list. Then I read and maybe write a little, then go back to a project. No schedule or appointments to worry about. The biggest thing today was getting the trash can from by the road up to the garage. Thankfully it wasn't raining when that chore was done. The Feral Fam or those who are around have been fed and with the rain no one is lurking or lounging about on the deck waiting for the next meal. Saw Cali yesterday briefly but it looks like she has found a higher and drier abode on up the mountain.

Again there is the learning curve of living someplace kind of new. I know all the low spots that flood in Houston. When streets are named I can picture most of them or at least picture them on a map. Here, that hasn't kicked in all the way. Still learning the counties and some exit numbers off the freeway because those are used more than street or road names. It is keeping my brain young and that I don't mind. Well, it is keeping it working on new things. This past year, especially in the winter, was a good time of going through mental and emotional things and keeping the ol' brain working by sorting through all the junk that no longer needs to be apart of life and realizing there are still things to learn and also to change.

You know how you start a search on the internet and just by the nature of looking up things the search once focused widens out and soon you're looking up all kinds of things. Today I was thinking about my Grandpa B and wondered when he died. Of course his obit is so old that I'd have to buy a subscription service thing to access to all kinds of newspapers, but I only want this one fact. By looking at all the short snippets from the obits of that day, I saw the year he died and that was fine by me. Then I saw that my Grandma B hadn't been born in Illinois as I always thought but in Kansas. Then I started looking at information about the city I was born in and some of the famous landmarks that I remember. Read histories of buildings and universities and businesses. Looked at Google Earth to see familiar parks and playgrounds, where grandparents lived and the like. Then I found a newspaper article, a remembrance of sorts about the bank my grandmother worked at and in that article there was her name. Next thing I am looking up the writer of the article to see if she is still living and it looks like she is and I had thoughts of emailing or contacting her but decided not to do that. But to see my grandmother's name and her job was a special surprise for this afternoon when the rain keeps on coming. That was a nice little nostalgic trip.
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Tonight was the children's musical at church. Very well done. The kids talented and looked to be having fun.

We had a few breaks from the rain and I decided to take advantage to run a couple of errands and get away from the house...not that I was bored...never but I wanted to see The French Broad River. It is running high and fast. Came home and took it easy for the rest of the afternoon. Our salesman from the Ford dealership called and asked how we were enjoying the convertible and I said, we aren't. He was shocked but then I added cause of the rain. I took the truck everywhere today not knowing what I would encounter.

I think Buddy has gone upstairs and I will do likewise.