The rain in Spain...

...falls mainly in the plain. Which any properly educated person knows, so I am sure you were aware of this. However, the rain in Houston has not fallen at all in quite some time. Not in the plain or in any other place. That is, it hadn't until Saturday. At which point it decided to pour down for an hour or two.

As I sat at the dining room table by the window that afternoon, I heard the pattering begin. I love the sound of rain. I love what it symbolizes. It symbolizes Time, I think. Time to get all cozied up with a fuzzy blanket and a good book. Time for hot cocoa and buttered toast. Time for living room forts and under-covers time and a general sense of laziness accompanied by utter contentment, a rare combination in our busy lives. Yes, rain is wonderful.

But on Saturday I heard that rain, and I groaned deep down inside. Not only was I sitting at the dining room table for the sole purpose of writing a shopping list which needed my immediate attention and meant that I would have to roll up my pants and get my hair wet, but also my favorite rain-friend was M.I.A. Of course he would be traipsing around the wilderness with his man-relatives at the exact moment the heavens opened up in Texas. And my other favorite rain-friend was, at that moment, somewhere in North Carolina purchasing a backpack, I believe. Plus she doesn't have a license yet, so coming to catch the rain with me was out of the question.

Feeling quite sure I had been the object of a very mean trick, I opened my blinds to get a better view of the rain and to see just what exactly I would be battling on my grocery shopping excursion. And this is what I saw...

Perfect rain-friends. So I decided to quit feeling sorry for myself and to real sneaky-like take a picture of them. And that's really not a creepy thing to do, trust me.

The next morning I saw their underthings hanging on a clothes line on their balcony, sunning themselves in the hot Houston sun . And I said a little hallelujah for rain and rain-friends that make life so lovely.

Happy Monday.

P.S. Welcome home, Favorite Rain-Friend. I love you.