Rain is a Good Thing

As my dear friend Nefi reminded me last week, I have clearly been slacking when it comes to blogging. Sorry, Nefi. Sorry, anyone else who cares. However, that's actually not why I'm posting now! The real reason I'm typing this post is because a couple weeks ago, something exciting happened! (Yes, it was almost two weeks ago... I better cure the habitual procrastinator part of myself before I get to BYU)... what exciting thing happened, you ask?...

IT RAINED.

See the glossy shine of the concrete? The deep, rich colors of the plants? The white sky? Yes, this is rain alright (the picture doesn't really show how hard it's raining... but take my word for it, the rain is coming down hard). For desert dwellers like myself, rain is always a good thing. But when you're also a running addict, this much rain is so much more than "good." To quote myself in a recent facebook status:

"Just because it's time to run, doesn't mean it will rain; but if it rains, it's always time to run."

 It was only sprinkling when I ran out the door, but I had my figurative fingers crossed. The wind was pretty impressive though, I got blown all over the place. Then the rain stepped it up a notch, and the wind certainly didn't slow down at all, and ouch! I was having a ridiculously good time though. Anyone who saw me definitely thought I was crazy, running and leaping and splashing, and periodically ending my hysterical laughter long enough to say "OW OW OW OW!" Before long it was downpouring, and the wind was helping me sprint with minimal effort. I wound up in the nearby church parking lot, where I did my good deed for the day by pushing a couch behind a thrift-store trailer (Of course, the couch was already drenched, but it's the thought that counts). Then I heard thunder, and I love thunder, but I don't like getting struck by lightning in the middle of my runs. So I took a short cut back home, which involved leaping over a couple of typically nonexistant rivers, and the next thing I knew I was wading through some very clingy mud.

Right, well, I still had a ways to run when I emerged from the mud pits, and by the time I reached a camera my shoes were squeaky clean. I have, however, attempted to recreate what the shoe looked like as much as possible. This picture is quite accurate.

I just barely thought of something profound! (I do that sometimes): there may not be "rain" in "ran," but there's "i ran" in "rain!" I'm so clever. Anyways, it was absolutely fantastic, and I hope you run in the rain too. There's plenty of joy to go around, I promise.

I live for runs like that.