After 9 months of virtually no precipitation, I am happy to report that I got wet, my rain barrel is full, my yard is muddy, and my dogs peed in the house in protest. :)
I don't remember a time in my life (early childhood doesn't count) when I was beyond excited to see rain. It had absolutely nothing to do with the drought either... I mean, yes, my plants are happier with rain and the dirt less difficult to maneuver, but I don't believe that is what elicited my response.
The last time it really rained in my corner of the Austin metro was the night we went to see the King's Speech. We decided kinda last minute to drive down to Regal Arbor. I had wanted to see it for a long time. Colin Firth has been an open crush of mine for nearly a decade, and mixing his nerdy sexiness with the British monarchy is a recipe for awesomeness in my book. Roger also wanted to see the movie, but I couldn't get him to move quick enough that day. We left later than planned in a downpour. Traffic was moving too slowly for my taste, and I was outwardly frustrated. I cursed the rain, damning it for choosing that moment to flood the streets when we were obviously in a rush. When we got to the theater, there was no parking... We had to park a couple of streets away and walk through the rain to buy our tickets. I stepped in a huge, invisible puddle that soaked my shoe and pant leg. I was angry. Roger was frustrated that I was being vocal about being angry. Our date night was off to a bad start.
Once we got our tickets I went into the theater to get our seats. 98% of the audience was over the age of 65, and there were no seats left together. I was even more frustrated... I finally found a sweet couple that moved over so I could get a seat for Roger and I. Most of the previews were over by the time Roger got out of the concessions line. The previews were "the best part", and he had missed them.
We started the movie in silence, not really acknowledging one another's presence except to share the cherry coke Roger bought. There is one really great scene in which Colin Firth lets loose an amazing string of profanities that had the whole audience doubled over laughing, us included. Despite being late, wet, and frustrated, we were having a good time. I reached over and squeezed his hand as a sort of silent apology for being a high-strung turd.
As we left the theater, we didn't talk about our previous state of pissy-ness but excitedly discussed what a wonderful movie that was and that it should definitely win the Oscar for best picture... Surely it could beat a movie about Facebook... The rain had ceased (thank god), but there was a beautiful glow everywhere from the lights of the city reflected in the streets. Roger took me to Michael's to buy some new yarn, and we made a Chick-Fil-A run before going back home. What started as an unnecessarily stressful date night ended pleasantly and appreciated, as it should have started. Of course, everything is more pleasant and appreciated in retrospect, rain included.
Droughts extend beyond the literal weather. Rain is a good place to start.
No comments:
Post a Comment