Relative Something

It’s the weekend, and a relatively calm and quiet one. We are at the lake and sleeping in our usual basement room that currently is anything but usual. Carpets have been pulled up and doors removed from closets and rooms, as a result of our little flood mishap a couple of weeks ago. I am able to report that I brought up a replacement drain cap for the wet vac, so that fiasco is behind me.

We watched the big finale of le Tour yesterday; the climb up Mont Ventoux. It was sort of exciting, yet, also not. No real impact resulted from the monumental climb. Now I am faced with withdrawal from watching 3-weeks of racing. I have never really appreciated the final day’s stage of riding into Paris, but I’ll probably watch it today, anyway. How could I not?

Yesterday, it seemed like I had special powers. The weather was a random mix of sun and rain. A large gang of kids and their parents were out playing soccer and invited me to join in. We played right through the rain. It was great. Afterward, I joined some of the kids in a swim and then came up to satisfy my hunger and a longing to lounge in a hammock.

The hammocks in a brief moment of sunshine

The regular rope hammock was wet from the rain, so I rigged up my favorite portable one to hang from the beams holding up the deck, just outside our bedroom door. It worked perfect! So perfect in fact, that when I climbed in for an initial test, I found I could reach the table nearby, so I could have my water and a snack within reach while I read. I went back inside to get something for a pillow behind my head and upstairs to find a snack, fill my water glass and get my book. Everything was in order to completely fulfill what I was craving and I performed the precise gymnastics to climb aboard and get settled.

It started to rain.

I pondered just a brief moment, considering the possibility of holding my ground, but luckily chose to bail out. It turned out to be one of the intense pours that last just a few minutes and then are followed by brilliant sunshine. I was so inspired to take advantage of my new setup that I got a broom and swept the water off the deck above to hasten the end of the dripping below. Once settled in the hammock again, I could see above me that I should have also swept the bottom of the deck because there were a lot of drips clinging to the bottom of the boards. I decided to tough those out.

I did get enough reading in to become sleepy and put down my book, but hardly slept enough to qualify calling it a nap when I heard voices that brought me back to reality. It’s a good thing. It started to rain again. I bailed out. This time, I knew enough not to waste time sweeping the deck. I devised a plan to remove the rope hammock from its frame and put my portable one out there. It took some trial and error, but I got the other one hung where it can dry and mine supported just the right height off the ground. I went back in to get my book and that pillow and then swung myself onto the hammock. It started to rain.

There was something about the timing I had for getting settled in the hammock and the movement overhead of clouds filled with more water than they can hold, that made me believe I must have something special going on. I wonder if I could market this ability to some farmers who have been unable to coax rain from the sky when they need it. Special powers, indeed.

I believe everyone has probably experienced this type of thing happening to them at one time or another. I suppose there is a possibility that the universe has a bit of a practical joker’s sense of humor to it. That could explain a lot of the situations in life we end up dealing with, don’t you think?