Water water all around
The forecast was for rain this morning, rain this lunchtime and rain this afternoon and evening. I didn't get a good night's sleep partly due to an extended Sunday afternoon nap, and partly due to worrying about cycling to the station in the rain.
My thinking is: cycling home in the rain isn't too bad because after twenty or so minutes it's over, you're home and warm and can get dry and have a nice cup of tea. Cycling to the station in the rain, sitting dripping in a train and two buses: not my idea of fun.
In the event this morning was cool and clouded over, but not cold. Indeed I left my cardigan behind as a last minute thing because I didn't want to arrive at the station all hot and sweaty. Yes, I'm fussy about how I arrive at the station.
It was a nice cycle ride, actually, until I got to the fields which have until so recently been full of the juciest reddest strawberries it's possible to imagine. It was lovely cycling past them with the smell of strawberries in the air, knowing that we usually had a big basket of them at home.
But, alas. Strawberry season ended a few weeks ago and the fields have been ploughed up. And, in order that we get a similar crop of jucy red strawberries next year, the fields have also been covered in poo. Or, if it's not poo, it is something that smelly terribly like poo. I have two children. I know what poo smells like.
Yum.
Really, you don't need that first thing in the morning so there's only one thing for it, mad peddaling and trying to breathe through your mouth. With all the insect-eating danger that entails. That's the part about living in the country that people don't tell you about. I think most townies are reconciled to the fact that here in the countryside it's noisy. Blimey it's noisy. What with the dogs, the cows, the tractors and the milk trucks. Not to mention the flipping rooster. But the big secret - not so secret now I've spilled the beans - is that the countryside stinks to high heaven for a lot of the year.
The train/bus/bus combo went well this morning. It went well this afternoon too, but the promised rain decided to show up and promptly made up for not having ruined my morning by coming down in buckets.
Not a good time to find out your waterproof jacket isn't as waterproof as you thought.
2 comments:
oh yes I know full well the scent of the countryside!
It is also amazing how noisy chickens are. Is there anything to like about these creatures!
Oh dear! What are you going to do about your jacket?
The only thing to like about chickens is how they taste with roast potatoes and gravy!
As for the jacket - it's not too bad, I think it only leakes around the sleeve area. As long as it's not freezing rain it's not too bad. We'll see. The real test will come when it rains when I'm on my way to work.
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