I have been sitting indoors for these past three days watching it rain. It’s not that I mind the rain as goodness only knows, we need as much as we can get. No, what I mind is that it is bloody cold out there with the temperature in the mid thirties. A few more degrees and I will really hate it as then it will turn into ice rain with freezing roads and stupid drivers. Of course, I have no reason to venture outside other than to check on the ponds to make sure that everything is OK and maybe go to the gym.The ponds  will do fine if it does freeze as all of the water is moving making it difficult for it to ice up. Not impossible but difficult.

This sort of weather reminds me of England in the winter time. This is exactly how it was in my part of the country in the south. Cold, wet and miserable and one of the reasons that I ended up in America. My Mother who was already here after World War 2 wrote to say that it was 80 degrees and was going to be another fine,sunny day.  We were just coming off three weeks of non stop rain. That was enough to persuade my family that we should move.

Playing on a wet field

Normally, I like the rain. I used to enjoy playing soccer out in it especially if the fields were a little wet and muddy. Nothing like sliding after the ball and missing it and continuing on for another ten feet before stopping. I played in one game that would have been more fitting for water polo than soccer as there was so much standing water and mud so thick that it literally sucked your boots off. Any resemblance to soccer was purely incidental. The ball floated in the water and the only way to kick it was to toe punt it and to any soccer aficionado, not the way to play the game. Even so, it was still fun.

In retrospect, the game should never have been played but in England in the winter time, it always rains and the fields are always wet. Besides, what normally happens after tearing up the field on the Saturday is that it rains through the week and the rain  levels the field back out and by the time the next game gets played usually two weeks later (one home, one away rotation) the fields are in great shape and ready to do it all again.

One thing you can always depend on in England is rain…

Look. It’s stopped. Time to head to the gym.

Related articles

• After the Rain (pondblog2011.mlblogs.com)