I thought I had made a post about rainy/ snowy days and how they seem to take the pressure off. If I did I can’t find it so, at the risk of repeating myself, this is what I’m thinking on this grey and rainy afternoon.
I don’t much like rain if I have to be out in it but when I’m inside cozy and dry with Odie sitting quietly beside me, I don’t mind it. It’s almost like these days give me permission not to accomplish much. Oh we could change the house battery in the van but it’s raining. We could finish spreading the mulch; there’s not that much to do, but it’s raining. I know those of you who live on the coast are probably shaking your heads at the silly Albertan who uses a bit of water as an excuse not to do things. If I lived where there was more rain I might get used to it. Living in a city that averages 333 sunny days a year, it’s easy to wait until the rain has stopped.
I’m enjoying today as a break from the heat. It’s quiet, not as many cars rushing up and down the busy street one block over. The construction projects all around are quiet too. Richard is out so it’s just Odie and me sitting quietly while I type and he sits low on the perch, feet together, and head feathers puffed up. These are all signs of contentment. We may not be best buddies but we both enjoy this companionable silence.
As I was thinking about writing this post I decided to look back to see if I could find the one I thought I wrote about lazy rainy days. For the first time I paid attention to the search box at the upper left of the blog screen. Imagine that! I can search my own posts! Duh. Until now I’ve been pretty lackadaisical about adding key words to my posts because I never know what words to use. Having searched for a post and not been able to find it, I think I may take a bit more time to affix key words so I can find things.
In my search for rain-related posts I came across one I wrote in 2015 about Beano, the red van. It was fun to reread. I wondered if Beano would make it to 30 years with us. The answer is yes he has. He passed 32 years with us in June. I wondered if we should sell him and get something newer. We’re still having that conversation and the answer for the foreseeable future is still no.
One of the most surprising things looking back at that post is the mileage. As of ten years ago, just over 200,000. As of today, I think it’s about 242,000. As one of the mechanics said to us once, “You guys should drive your vehicles more.” The rust has gotten a bit worse on his backend and the letters LE have come off.
He has more little quirks than he did a few years ago. The lights in the instrument panel sometimes decide not to go on. Of course, that’s intermittent and nobody can fix it unless it’s misbehaving when he’s in the shop. I have a book light that I keep charged and carry in the front seat so if the lights go out I can still see the dash. The door locks are also a bit finicky. Most of the time they work but sometimes they don't, and I have to lock the doors using the key instead of the push button lock. None of these is a deal breaker when it comes to keeping or getting rid of the van. It still suits us. It’s quirky and fun to drive, and whatever money we throw at it will be much cheaper than buying a new van which might not suit us so well.
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Time for new toys, Hooman! |
It’s still raining. I’m still not motivated to do much of anything. Maybe it’s time for afternoon tea. Odie is beginning to chatter to me and look over hopefully. He just tossed one of his paper toys on the floor so I think he’s telling me that I need to give him another one. Richard will be home soon and it will be time to feed Odie and clean up all the bits of newspaper he has strewn all over the floor by his cage. Nothing much accomplished today but I’m warm, dry, and content. Oh and, one more blog post closer to catching up to my goal of two a month. Stay tuned.