I wrote a journal to post here yesterday, it was largely about my 3 hour PIP assessment yesterday morning. I’ll post it later, but this one comes first as it’s so much nicer to have something good to write about.
We’re scheduled for some heavy rain here today, and I didn’t get to walk Riley yesterday. I decided to get him out at 10.45, as the rain wasn’t due to start again until 11.15. I then figured I could take him out again later when it’s dry.
Anyway, off we went. I was smart, I wore my rain coat just in case. Riley doesn’t like rain, or wet ground, he refuses to pee just like Bella used to. But the only coats here are Bella’s, and Riley has yet to be given a coat for walks, so I just hoped I’d get it right.
I do a little lap of the village which usually takes around 45-60 minutes, but I figured with the speed bumped up a little we might just be able to do most of it. Wrong. First off I bumped into a lovely chatty lady who was asking about my health and where I lived…with whom I lived, whether they worked. She stopped short of asking for my long card number and the three digits on the back though, so it was fine. When she asked how I got ill and I explained it was an adverse reaction to a Covid vaccine, she promptly said “dat nasty ting” in a lovely Jamaican accent. I don’t think I’m ever going to not have that going round my head when somebody mentions the vaccine, so I’m grateful I met this lady who made me smile this morning just for simply existing and showing me kindness and compassion.
Anyway, off we went again and Riley was being a bellend. When the speed is higher he gets anxious energy that has him leaping around like a fucking kangaroo on a leash. So I dropped the speed and decided that if we get wet then so be it. A mere 5 minutes later, as I was chastising Riley for finding the only pile of fox shit to roll in on the verge, the heavens opened. My app said the rain would initially be light, allowing for me to get home. My app lied.
It was proper rain and we were getting proper wet.
Riley thankfully continued walking, though he wasn’t particularly well behaved about it as he quite frankly did not want to be getting wet or worse yet, be expected to walk in it. I however, flipped the hood of my rain coat up.
I know it sounds silly, given what I’ve written above, but this was one of my favourite walks. It’s strange the things you come to miss about the world, but being in the rain is one of them. Usually if there’s a torrential downpour you’ll find me trying to get into the back garden as fast as I can to have the ground beneath my bare feet, while the rain washes everything that doesn’t serve me away.
Today was torrential rain, but it was rain and it felt truly lovely to once again experience being “caught out” while on a walk. Something that used to happen often for Bella and I. I just never believed, given my lack of ability to really walk much, that this would happen for me again and I didn’t know how much I’d missed that experience until today. The feel of the rain on my skin, the little panic inside, the apologising to your dog and promising them you’re rushing home as fast as he will allow. Plus a mild panic over being in my chair, though it’s fairly robust and reportedly fine in the rain, I popped a clean poo bag over the controls just in case.
I’m home, we’re dry, Riley is napping at my feet once again and I feel like I’ve had a lovely, cleansing, meditation. I highly recommend anyone reading this goes out to experience a little rain today. Remember it’s just water, and it’s really quite a wonderful thing once you realise that getting your hair wet, or smudging your make-up, really is something insignificant to worry about. Double its benefits by taking your socks off and standing barefoot, grounding. Im almost certain you’ll feel better and lighter like I do now.