Feeling the Rain

I talked with Lauren until quarter of 3 this morning and quite happily slept until 10:30. Listened to the second half of Brunch With the Beatles while making Peach-Blackberry Whole Grain Pancakes. ("The Beatles and the Summer of Love" was in the spotlight today. That was fine with me; it meant we heard songs from Sgt. Pepper and Magical Mystery Tour, which have some great music.)

I went on the computer after breakfast, but it did nothing but give me grief. The internet was running slow again. I uninstalled and installed the driver for the MP3 player four times, and it just wouldn't work. I finally gave up on it. I had enough trouble with it yesterday. I changed into my bathing suit and went back over to Uncle Ken's for a swim instead.

By the time I hit the pool, dark clouds were rolling over Oaklyn. It was still hot and humid, but not quite as hot as yesterday. This time, Uncle Ken and Dolores were the only ones home. I had a quiet, enjoyable swim.

Thunder was starting to rumble as I climbed out. I went across the driveway and over to the porch, where Dolores and Uncle Ken were listening to the Phillies/Rockies game. Even as I sat down, the announcers mentioned that the men were playing in heavy rain and thunder.

The storm found us about ten minutes later. It felt really great to be able to sit and watch the rain with Uncle Ken and Dolores. I don't get to see those two that often. They're usually out on some trip or errand when I'm around. They finally went inside when the game went on rain delay.

I leaned against the porch and watched the rain fall. It wasn't a really heavy, crazy rain like two weeks ago, but it was still a fairly good shower. As I watched it come down and the birds play in it, I remembered how my sisters and I used to love to play in the rain. We'd run out in our clothes, splash in puddles, and chase each other down the street.

I didn't want to just watch anymore. If the birds could, why not I? Besides, I was already wet and wearing my bathing suit. I ignored the lightening and the thunder's noisy growls and stepped onto the driveway. It felt so nice, so cool. I walked around the house's perimeter. I splashed in the few puddles that had gathered. I just stood in the middle of the driveway and let the cool rain wash over my face. It felt wonderful. Just...liberating.

Mother Nature must have felt pretty liberated, too. Uncle Ken and Dolores came back out for a little while to hear the game. When it became pretty obvious that neither the rain nor the delay were letting up, they went back inside...and I went out to enjoy the rain again. The wind was picking up along with the rain. It felt a hundred times cooler and less humid than it had when I was in the pool. I wasn't the only one who really needed this.

I would have stayed longer and watched the rain, but it was getting colder and windier by the minute. I was still just in my bathing suit and was beginning to freeze. With the game still on rain delay, Uncle Ken drove me home.

Since Mother Nature was now in a more amiable frame of mind, I decided to make use of the huge bounty of produce we've had lately and do some baking. I changed back into dry clothes, hung my bathing suit and towel to dry, and made a Peach-Berry Grunt via Alton Brown's Blackberry Grunt recipe. A peach joined blueberries and the rest of the blackberries, and I replaced half of the flour with whole wheat. Even with less sugar than the recipe called for, though, it was much too sweet. (It did taste very nice with a scoop of Bryers Cherry Vanilla, though.)

I watched Chinatown while having salad and leftover steak for dinner. Chinatown is the stylish tale of a private detective (Jack Nicholson) who runs up against corruption, real estate, and an unbuilt dam in a very dry LA circa 1935. Faye Dunaway is the socialite who may have a few skeletons in the closet of her own.

I love mysteries, and this is one of the best. While it lacks the grit and toughness of the real film noirs of the 40s and 50s, it has a genuinely interesting mystery, wonderful LA cinematography, and fine performances by Nicholson, Dunaway, and director James Huston as Dunaway's millionaire father.

After Chinatown ended, I went online. With the storm out of the area and the internet up and running again, I was able to listen to The Dress Circle in peace. The theme was "Cast Albums Released or Re-Released Recently by Masterworks Broadway," i.e Columbia's Broadway cast album section. Shows in the spotlight included the currently-on-Broadway revival of Promises, Promises, the 1962 City Center revival of Annie Get Your Gun with Ethel Merman, and the original casts of 1776 and the wonderful musical mystery City of Angels.

(Oh, by the way, the Phillies were losing 3-2 before the rain delay, but they apparently came back once the game started and won 4-3.)