“It’s Just Weather”

~ beetleypete

After another ten hours of near torrential rain yesterday, I was beside myself. Why had I chosen to live in Norfolk? It was supposed to be the ‘Driest county in England’, but after seven years, I had seen more rain that in the previous sixty years of my life. There was no getting away from it, all this rain was making me unhappy, bordering on depression. I was beginning to hate my life in this world of water.

The new guttering was unable to cope with the relentless downpours, so the whole property was awash. Then I discovered that the shed had flooded again, so by the time it came to have to take Ollie for his walk, I would just have soon hanged myself from our oak tree, in all honesty. I really had seen enough. The end of my tether didn’t even get close to conveying my mood, which was darker than dark. Black, in fact.

But Ollie has to go out.

I dressed for the weather, with a waterproof coat, and heavy rubber boots. I added an umbrella, to keep off the worst of the downpours.

Ten minutes into my walk, and Ollie was saturated. Even with the umbrella, I was having a hard job even keeping remotely dry. The ground was wet and muddy, the river had burst its banks and overflowed onto the paths. If I lived in America and owned a handgun, I would have shot myself, with a smile on my face as I collapsed to the ground.

Halfway round Beetley Meadows, I spotted a fellow dog-walker. I know him, and his delightful tiny dog, Lola. Ollie trotted off to see them, and I finally caught up. Lola was also saturated, her short coat of fur was a mass of damp curls. But as always, she jumped up onto my leg for strokes and cuddles, and licked my hand and face.

I walked alongside my neighbour for a while, bemoaning my fate. I told him how I was so fed up with the rain, that our shed had flooded, and that my mood was so low, there was no level that could describe it.

He told me that he was having just a short walk with Lola, as she was such a tiny dog, she didn’t need too much exercise. When I mentioned that I had to keep Ollie out for at least two hours, to tire him out, he nodded.

I repeated my complaints about the relentless rain as he walked away. He turned and smiled, his local upbringing showing through his wry grin.

“It’s just weather. That’s all it is”.

I wish I could be like that, I really do.

77 thoughts on ““It’s Just Weather””

  1. It hasn’t rained here in a while. Here is the southeastern states, we complain about heat. An indoor dog park would make a difference for you. I have never seen one, but a decent idea. Cheer up my friend, for I can not bear to think of you sad, Wishing you clear days with sunshine and wind to dry up that water!!

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  2. The monsoon season is such an important part of our lives that we cannot imagine life without rains. This year the rains did not start when they should have. Everyone was worried. The rains started in July and no one complained 😊

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  3. He’s right, but that doesn’t make you feel any better. I have the same feelings on a February day when another 12 inches of snow falls and we have to rake the roof. Best to you, Pete.

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  4. Pete, I have sympathy with you. We have had a very wet September here in Lancashire, above average rainfall and it has carried on into October. I agree, the weather can dictate our mood. My dogs hate the rain, I hate the rain and I cannot get out and ride my bike in this weather which is annoying. I think its time to start building an ark. Ian

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  5. I’m fairly sure YOU CAN be like that – it may just take the form of good cheer an hour or so AFTER the walk, once you are back inside, dried out, in comfy clothes and resting knowing your duties/checks of infrastructure are done for another day, hour, moment – – much easier to be cheerful AFTER the duty is done, than while doing our duty in our not-preferred weather options – OR – take the soap and beach towells out and announce later “my shower, Ollie’s bath and our daily exercise – DoNE!” 🙂

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      1. I don’t know about you but I simply must make up a storyline when things out of my control make daily life more resource intensive. Bonus points are awarded if u can weave in bigfoot, aliens or a time warp. Lol

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          1. Hmmm. Well there is a deep history of long ago stories in your locale, however, even more interesting to me is… What if Nessie or the Kraken went walkabout. Or is that swim about? :). The coolest part of storylines is no one gets to tell you what’s realistic…or if they do you just smile and say, “um yes. It’s made up to keep me entertained while I walk the bloomin’ dog through a waterfall!” 😀. This chat has certainly brightened my day. Soon I will don my gear, break through the security zones and save the world from evil doers. I.e I will be logging into computer and working on making websites more accessible and easier to navigate. Lol

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              1. :). Aliens it is then. Cryptozoology doesn’t appear to do it for ya. :). In the end anything that keeps me entertained and exercises my imagination works for me but every is different. We are fire restrictions after a blessed winter and summer of better precipitation than we have had in past 6 years. Ah well. First snow of season is forecast for Wednesday/Thursday. Yay! Break out the Christmas lights and cookie making supplies !!!

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  6. Maybe you should don your swimming trunks and save on a pile of wet clothes to dry, although it may confused the emergency services when they discover the corpse’ head shot wound, swimming trunks, flooded field 🙂

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  7. It is interesting how weather tends to bother us more as we age. I grew up in the Dakotas, one of those places which have extreme seasonal temperature changes. Most days in the winter are far below freezing. Yet, when I was a kid, I loved it. I’m sure it would be different for me today.

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    1. With me, it is more about moving location. Rain in London didn’t really bother me. That was because I only had to venture out in it briefly, to and from work. There was no standing water, localised flooding, or mud to trawl through. Living in a rural location has made me appreciate the impact of weather on every aspect of daily life, especially when you have a dog to look after.
      Best wishes, Pete.

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  9. Hang in there Pete! This too shall pass! We are also entering the rainy months and it can get old pretty quickly. Fortunately the cats don’t need to be taken for a two hour walk so I don’t have to go out if I don’t want too. Are there any museums or other indoor things to do nearby? We try to find them here during the long, winter months.

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  12. Here in Las Vegas, we’ve gone 150 days without a drop of rain, which is why my umbrella is collecting dust somewhere in the house.
    But the real story is that we’ve received a whopping 7.26 inches of rainfall this year (all in the first months of 2019), which is nearly double the average annual rainfall for the valley! So I feel your pain!

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  13. Pete, instead of building new oil pipelines, they should be building them for water…take that downpour and turn it into money at least! I grew up in Seattle, one of the rainiest places in the US…don’t really remember that it rained all through my childhood, I guess I just accepted it as your fellow dog waker did….so I went back to Seattle for a week and it rained the whole time and I too wanted to kill myself!

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  14. My MIL’s place flooded three times — severe flooding. She lost 80% of her property. She never liked the rain again after that. It was hard on her. The problem with excess water is that it will find its way into everything. It is merciless, too, with the accompanying damage. I hope the weather pattern changes soon. I hate to hear that it has you feeling so bad.

    It continues to be dry here — too dry. We are surrounded by forest and woodland so the threat of fire is always a worry when conditions get too dry. We pray for rain while you hope for it to stop. Such seems to be the world these days. Not much help I know.

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    1. Maybe if I was at work it wouldn’t seem so bad, I don’t know. I never really noticed it in London, and perhaps I had an unrealistic notion of a retirement walking Ollie under blue skies…
      I have to fight really hard to shake the gloomy mood some days. 😦
      Best wishes, Pete.

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  16. I am only pleased that I don’t have a dog to walk! We had a lovely sunny day yesterday, but we did have your heavy rain on Saturday and again in the early hours of this morning which woke me up it was that heavy! Dry now, but grey and gloomy. I wonder if there is a driest county any more?

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  19. I need to get that man’s grip on my weather. For the long haul I suppose we have better weather than most, but too much one way or the other can wear on you. We both need to get that guy’s attitude.

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  20. Wishing we had this problem….but I know what you mean…..not easy walking the friend in a pouring rain…..I remember when in Summer we had a rain every afternoon about 1 pm….those days are long gone…..we now are working on 92 days with no rain….my yard is starting to look like the Sahara…LOL chuq

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      1. Plus hard on pets as well……I am thankful for all the trees I planted over the years for my property is very shady…..but it also drives up the water bill to as much as 100+ per month. chuq

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  22. Sorry to hear about the dismal weather, Pete, but having lived in England, I know what you mean all too well. I guess one doesn’t notice it so much when one is working because sometimes the day goes by and you’re so busy you hardly have time to think about it (although if you work outside… well…), but when you have to spend a fair amount of time outside and the weather is miserable… Here I was participating in a couple of long walks over the weekend (part of the Caminada Internacional de Barcelona) and we were lucky because although it was cloudy and there were a few drops of rain here and there, it mostly remained dry (and not too hot, that when you walk 30 or 40 km is something to be grateful for). I do try to cultivate an attitude of acceptance, but I’m rarely successful. I hope things get better soon, and Mary’s suggestion might not be a bad one… Take care.

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  23. You have my sympathy, Pete. Whilst I wouldn’t go so far as to describe myself as a pluviophile (lovely word, that) I do like a rainy day; always assuming that I don’t have to go out in it, of course, because I don’t have a dog to walk; what does get me down is the interminable, grey overcast days in winter when nothing happens – I’d rather a good storm, any day! 🙂

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      1. I fear you’re right there, Pete. I should point out that I do also love a sunny day, being a summer child, and the older I get, the more I resent the cold, but resentment don’t butter no parsnips! 😉 I wish I could afford to winter in the Canaries, but I’m a bit short of the necessary……..

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  25. Your weather has moved up to us now. I’ve been lucky taking the cousins out as it rained at night and cleared up during the day – not any more. I’m thinking I should get my SAD lamp out as I have a feeling the grey isn’t going to shift any time soon. Maybe you should get one, Pete. I really do think they work.

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