More rain

We have just had a bit of sunshine after an unprecedented amount of rain. What made this lot different is the duration – we have had days of it. We have had plenty of one-or-two-day flooding before but not heavy rain that has gone on for longer than a week. And, there is more forecast, even this afternoon. Looking ahead, there seems we could get another week of it as well. Mostly rain interspersed with the odd break, but more rain than dry. The beauty about living up here is generally the rain is short lived, the wind driving it on to a further destination. And when I say beauty, that can be a curse as well, especially during summer when we watch the much-needed rain clouds passing us by.

But I have talked before about my enjoyment of the rain as it is more needed than not needed up here. Stephen and I went for a short drive this morning around the neighbourhood and there is still heavy flooding across some roads and sections so I guess these people won’t be as pleased with it as I am, though I must admit, this time, it did push me to my limits.

I am so thankful for Jason’s work over Easter, repairing the roof and rotten boards in the add-on at the back of the garage. There is no leakage there now.

But what I also like about the rain, is the feeling that it is ok to be inside. I have often struggled, during fine weather, to be working on my computer when I would much rather be out in the sunshine. When it is wet, it is fine to be doing this, particularly over the last couple of days when I needed to write my speech for the Mind Body & Spirit event next weekend. The first attempt on Friday, took me about three hours but I realised I wasn’t happy with this and spent another few hours, rewriting it yesterday. I guess it can be used again if I do any further talking, but this first one is the one that takes the time. And there are the blogs too. I don’t mind writing these as they don’t take too long, but that extra time writing the speech fatigued me and it reminded me of my journalism days when large parts of my day was spent in front of the screen and how tired I always felt. On Friday, my head had that same congested feeling.

When I was writing my books I would only sit at the computer for as long as I felt comfortable, generally two or three hours. I guess I was self-regulating without even knowing it. It seems to take longer to recover if one has spent too long at their desk and I know my creativity slumps once I get tired. It was always difficult when I was massaging to get that writing time in too. It is not just a matter of having an hour to spare, let’s get writing, as it would take some time to get into the zone, to pick up where one left off and would be incredibly frustrating having to stop if I was in full-writing mode. I preferred to leave writing to times I had a whole morning or afternoon free.

The same applied to gardening. I didn’t like doing any if I had a massage to follow. It is always difficult removing the dirt from around the fingernails, even when gloves have been worn. Nobody wants to see a massage therapist with dirty hands. Again, I would only garden after my last client of the day.

But I haven’t got any of those restrictions now, well, certainly not daily, anyway. My time is my own and I must admit that is a great feeling. When something comes up, it is a pleasure, rather than a hindrance. And my health has been improving daily so I actually have energy to spare to do more than one thing in a day.

Life is looking up.