Wet and Wetter Wednesday

Tom Sherry calls this "transition day."  That's a not-so-subtle euphemism for at least one more day of rain before the promised sunshine begins.  

He also says that we in North Idaho will get the brunt of what's left of the moisture but that we should start seeing some improvement by noon.

I'll hold him to it. 

I saw my neighbor Mark Johnson headed to work during my morning walk, and he "loves" these days just as much or more than I do.  Mark works in excavation, so he's dealing with soup.

Yesterday, I found some rainy-day projects and even fooled myself into thinking that I liked the rain while moving some dry dirt (under trees) to some wet ground.  

It will be good to have all this moisture to go along with newly planted patches of grass around the manure-pile garden.  

That reasoning kept me in a good mood as I checked off project after project yesterday----vacuuming the shop, removing some clutter from the garage, cleaning out a messy area behind the barn and, yes, planting that grass.

For the big fun of the day, I took garbage to the Bonner County Transfer Station and even went to Pac West Parts to get a bungee attachment for the lawnmower bag.  

The original broke a week or so ago when the bag hose rammed into the apple tree while I was concentrating on missing a branch that could have decapitated me.  Better the bungee than my neck. 

I have learned with this new lawnmower that mental multi-tasking is essential.  I must look at what's in front of me while remaining fully aware of what might attack the lawnmower bag sticking out behind me.

Have learned that lesson the hard way many times already, especially when that wolf-crossing sign at the end of the driveway sticks out and scrapes the bag whenever I pass by too closely.  

Anyway, when I arrived at Pac West Parts and placed the broken bungee on the counter, the clerk knew right away where to grab a new one.

"Just one," she asked. 

"Yup," I said, wondering if Tony, my lawnmower repairman, had forewarned the staff that when you see Marianne coming, it's always good for business and then some. 

Then, I rationalized that I might not be the only lawn-mowing nutcase who runs into trees with her lawnmower bag.  

In between all the outdoor projects, I watched World Cup Soccer.  Getting addicted to World Cup Soccer on a rainy day is a good thing.  By the time the matches end, it's time for dinner.  

Still, as I said to Mark this morning, the day was long.  Rainy days in June are common here, but when the outdoor opportunities end because the house is surrounded by lakes, they seem endless.

Yesterday's activities took me back to that notorious summer in the early '80s when EVERY day in June and part of July was rainy.  That's when I had little kids, and they finally brought their "ark" aka kiddie rubber raft into the house to pretend they were out on the ocean. 

I watched soaps while kids found ways to entertain themselves, including pulling teeth. One day Annie put the nylon cord around the rubber raft between her teeth and Willie yanked that raft with such force, the cord pulled out one of Annie's bottom teeth, root and all.

That tooth wasn't due to come out just yet cuz Annie was about 5.  The rubber-raft tooth extraction occurred around 5 p.m. when all dentists were headed home.  So, there wasn't much chance of replanting the tooth in Annie's gum.

She went toothless until her second tooth grew in.  The rain continued that summer, but rubber raft tugging remained off limits from that day forth. 

So, when I think of how bad we've had it with past periods of rain, I guess I won't gripe too much this morning.  Besides, my addiction to World Cup Soccer is rivaling that of my obsession with "All My Children," and that was not Willie and Annie.  

Young lovers Greg and Jenny and their cast members kept me and a lot of my friends riveted that summer and for a few years afterward. 

I don't watch soaps anymore, and I must say that soccer offers a lot of nice scenery to go along with the fierce and fast action.  

So, life is okay on this rainy Wednesday, and maybe by noon the sun will return so I can go outside and ram into some more apple trees with the lawnmower bag. 

Happy Wednesday.  Welcome home, Helen.  To Cherry, the "Slight Detour" administrative assistant: Helen's return means you get to go on editing vacation, starting tomorrow.