Take A Walk In The Rain

If you're feeling in need of solitude, there's really no better course of action than to take a walk in the rain. It's something that no-one else does. In fact, just by revealing this, I'm jeopardising my own sanctuary from the peoples of the world. However, if you think about it, then it's an unarguable proposition. No-one walks in the rain, with or without their weatherproofs. It's considered to be madness!

It's lovely to wander around in a wholly different medium, listening to the pitter patter of drops on your hood, or indeed the heavy thuds if you happen to be of braver stock. Usually, the time to consider running for shelter is when thunder or lightning begin, or if the impacts that you're hearing are more like crashes than thuds. Crashes, thunder, and lightning are all the things to avoid... Although it is sometimes very dangerously fun to be on the brink. (If you happen to be in a city, you can watch amusedly as people run for shelter at the mere picture of a raindrop, but that's another story, and possibly one about my own prejudice instead of reality.)

The fascinating thing about rainy days, to me, is how much variety there is to be found. Blue skies are very uniform in comparison, barring the time of the year or day. On a rainy day, every factor becomes far more significant. The wind affects the vectors of the rays of water across the landscape. The trees shelter you, except for when the load becomes too large and then they drown you. The temperature and humidity affect the mistiness. The time of year changes the smell and taste of the water in the air. Occasional bursts of sunlight can cause rainbows and brilliants contrasts. Ambience changes the nature of what's around you, and mood becomes embodied in the precipitation and then transformed. It's... magical. You can feel yourself walking through the medium, instead of just ambling through a void. Oh, and you can become different varieties of wet.

The other thing you can do on a country walk in the rain, and this is unique to the activity, is to quite happily talk to yourself. No, we're not discussing active and delusional conversations with imaginary people here, but speeches more in the nature of soliloquies; the verbal form of brainstorming or extemporising a blog post out of the events of a day. You can just let yourself ramble on in a stream of consciousness for a while, secure in the knowledge that no-one else will be along to overhear you. If necessary, you can talk to a horse in a nearby field, if you feel like you need the excuse of a real audience. Note: It's pretty obvious that if we could interview notable horses throughout history, then we could learn more about history than by poring through the accumulated literature of the world. Especially if we added camels too. Oh, all the secrets of the world under one hump, or maybe two.

That's a great place to stop, isn't it? Feeling bored? Need a place to go to be in solitude? Get out your waterproofs, and go for a walk in the rain.

O.