"Just (laughin') and (runnin') in the rain..."

Happy Labor Day everyone! So I was talking to my roommate yesterday and I asked, "Is there anyone we're supposed to be honoring tomorrow, or just ourselves?" Turns out, just ourselves! So with no labor to perform and no cemetaries or parades to attend I began my day bright and early at 9:30 am (wow! I slept in) and decided to go for a nice walk. Georgous morning! It had rained all night and was completely overcast, not just cloudy. I think in French the word is "couvert" which means covered. There is another word for just normal cloudy but I forget it now...So I began my walk. I wasn't in a running mood, just a walking on. I have this big square south of BYU's campus that I do. I was on the first leg when it started to sprinkle. I was smiling to myself thinking, "Oh how pleasant!" I had tried to gauge what kind of day it would be before I left and new it had rained all night so thought it would start again in the afternoon sometime. My estimates were incorrect. The sprinkle turned into a pour. But I was determined and I wanted to get my workout in. I did kind of start laughing to myself though. Can I just say it's a good thing that we're not all crazy people cautious anymore with straight-jackets being thrown on people left and right cause a girl walking in the rain laughing to herself would definitely have been a candidate for a check-in to a room with padded walls. Before long I was drenched but I continued to try and convince myself that it would be okay. "Hey," I thought, "this is just like swimming only I'm on land and dressed. It is still a wet workout!" Well pouring turns into pelting and the rain starts going horizontally and the thunder and lightening start shaking...I felt so alive and wonderful. The future mother in me said, "You're going to get a cold," inside my head but then I thought about the state of my immune system and recalled my good eating, sleeping, and workout habits of the previous week and so I kept going. But as the rain gets harder so does my laughter and then I start laughing not only at the situation but at laughing to myself. I become aware of the fact that, as fun as this is, the rain is coming hard and is now stinging my the unprotected, now frozen skin of my bare legs and arms. Ahead I see a cute Italian restaurant that has those striped overhangs in a spot they usually have little round tables in and I run another block and jump a thigh high fence to get in. Continuing to laugh I watch as the Labor Day festivites accross the street are being ruined as people run from booths and hide in cars or stay to protect and cover the items they're selling. I stay there for 20 minutes and to quickly rush through those minutes the list of things I think of while pacing in the 12 foot by 4 foot area are as follows: boy that was fun; the differece between me and Gene Kelly is that the "Singin' in the Rain" set must have had heated water pouring over him; wow that puddle's a good one...I'll have to jump in it on my way back to the car; I would love to be out there in the rain kissing someone right now. After some time passes I remember the forecast as being rain all day and look up to see not a spot of blue sky anywhere. I'm going to have to brave it! I run all the way back to the car ((8 blocks), laughing the majority of the way. When I get to the car I get a blanket out of the trunk and wrap in it before I sit down because well I guess that being wet is going to do something to my '92 Ford Taurus that I haven't vacuumed in a month...go figure! I had a few things I needed at the grocery store and so I go in with the goal of not staning in one place long enough to create a puddle that would then be a triping hazard to other Allen's patrons. When I get home I plan to to shower, make a yummy breakfast, and drink some hot chocolate and then curl up with my math book. But, I am not that cool and all of those things happen except the math part. I do everything to avoid math including hand washing a dress I might now wear till next summer...hmmmm...interesting. All in all a great experience. Getting stuck with Gene Kelly in the rain would have been nice and if it had been a hot Mathematician instead of math book the curling up on the couch may actually have happened! The rain stops two hours later and Labor Day ends a beauiful, crisp Autumn day. I love this season. Happy September First everyone!