Walking in Rain – Not Singing

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When some people see that it's grey or rainy they don't want to go for a walk. They don't want to get rained on and they don't want to experience the discomfort of being in a wet environment. I don't mind the rain. I don't mind wearing a rain coat and rain trousers, and waterproof shoes, and ensuring that I don't need to fiddle with the phone when my hands are wet with rain.

I think tbat one reason for which I'm fine with walking in full rain gear on a rainy day is that I used to drive in a dry suit, and that at the end of the day walking in the rain is not much different from dry suit diving. In both situations you're wearing cloths to keep warm, with a layer of protective gear over the dry clothes.

One of the problems with walking on a sunny day, after a day of rain is that shoes get extremely muddy, as do trousers, but that mud is just viscous enough to stick to my shoes. It's the day after heavy rain that it's awful, because shoes get muddy and when shoes get muddy I sit on the stones and scrape away the mud from my shoes. This takes several minutes. ¨

My shoes get muddy because whether I am on agricultural roads, on main roads car drivers will drive so fast and so close that I am forced to walk in the mud. During a drought this doesn't matter, and it doesn't matter when it's raining. That's because when it rains water soaks shoes. Mud doesn't stick. My shoes look good as new, and that's a great advantage of walking in heavy rain.

Rain also changes the landscape. What is a road, in dry weather, becomes a stream. What is usually an orchard with grass growing between the trees becomes a pond with trees, a mangrove. I might be pushing our imagination a little with this image.

There is one massive disadvantage to rainy days. My coat drains onto the tile floor and I need to keep mopping it up, to avoid stains from forming. I often have to mop the floor where the coat was hanging on the back of a chair. It's hanging from a chair because if I let it drain on the coat rack it will soak the ISP device.

As I write this blog post I am struck by something. It's the 30th of december and I'm speaking about rain, with barely a thought for snow. Facebook reminded me that 12 years ago we had snow on this day. According to the Apple Weather app the normal temperature range for where I am is from -6°c to 4°c. It's 9°c today. At lease precipitation is 7.3cm above average, so that's one plus. If it was cold we would have a nice snowy landscape.

## And Finally

When it's almost always sunny people like me get fatigued with the sun, and rain becomes a rare treat. In the same way that we used to think that it's a shame to stay indoors when it's sunny, I now find it a shame not to go out when it's raining. At least when it's raining the landscape changes, the walking paths are quiet, and my shoes are spotless when I get home. Usually the morning frost makes the ground muddy and I need to clean my shoes before entering the building.

Maybe I'm ready for the Camino Primitivo. If it rained for the entire time I might still be comfortable, especially if I sleep in a building every night.