Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Mmmmmm, Can You Smell the Rain?

I wonder how many bloggers in Sydney are going to write abut the joys of a warm morning and then a tropical thunderstorm in the afternoon?? I don't care!!

There is something about only needing a sheet on top of you when you sleep at night. And waking up early in the morning for the toilet and not freezing your arse off to get there and back. Something about getting out of the shower and lazily dressing instead of breaking a speed record to get clothed and warm. Sleeping with the windows open (locked open) and having cool summer salads for dinner.

We have all whinged and whined about the slow start of summer, but it seems today was a taste of what is to come. Suits Me with Three just fine.

The warm mornings mean I can do a load of washing and get it hung out before we trot off to socialise. It means Miss S can go berserk with the sunscreen (she loves it! Ain't no UV rays getting through all of the cream!!!). Miss E can get around without having her toes covered up with pretty socks or all in ones. Imagine feeling carpet, grass or floorboards on the soles of your feet for the first time! We can get out and play with our friends (mine included). Sitting in the shade of an awning while little naked bodies run around under a sprinkler and in a wadding pool. Of course the warm weather totally caught this ill-prepared mother by surprise - hence the little bottoms running around. No cossies, no towels, no hats...oops!! Lucky Miss S had smothered every skin cell in UV factor 50! NOTE: It was very funny however to see her a little bit "frightened" shall I say, by the wadding pool. Does that mean that A) I am a bad mother for not showing her one til now, B) I am a bad mother for making her play in it , C) I am a bad mother because she was frightened of it in the first place OR D) I am a bad mother because I am a bad mother??? I tell you...A mother's guilt!! When I was a me, I never felt as guilty as I do every  second of every day about every little thing! I digress.....

Home in time for sleeps, some me time, and then, by wake up time, the storm clouds had set in and it had become what I can only imagine it is like before a tropical thunderstorm. You know, the ones that we read about in dream time stories. The ones where the earth gods were "so angry that..."and something was created.  Angry black clouds, the ants scurrying around, that eerie feeling. Exactly the calm before the storm. That sticky air that is oppressive. It actually made me want to vacuum....don't ask why!?! This suits me perfectly because Miss S sat transfixed by the clouds as it slowly, slowly got darker and darker. She watched the lightning and heard the thunder, 10 seconds, 9 seconds, 5 seconds later. Then the rain. The buckets and buckets of rain. Rain that our old, rusted gutters (not replacing them cos the whole house is being demolished in a matter of weeks!) could not hold and let spill out over the sides. She smelt the smell that has not changed in my 30yrs. That sweet, hot, smell that can only be described as "hot day after rain" smell. Everyone knows that smell, and I am yet to meet anyone who dislikes it. And then it all goes. In half the amount of time it took to arrive. The storm was nothing compared to the build up and the anticipation. Sure it is great, but the apprehension, the expectation is what I love. How big a storm is it going to be?

Later in the evening, me with two girls asleep, I can sit with my hubby with the windows open, smelling the rain and watching "summer" TV. Drinking cool water, that very easily could be a Mojito or Pina Colada if we were anywhere else. And then falling into bed....wearing summer jammies and only a sheet.

So you can see why these days suit me. I think it is the nostalgia. The summer activities that I used to partake in when I was little, I can re-create for my girls. For me, when summer comes, it brings with it memories of tastes and smells and days spent swimming in pools so heavily chlorinated that we came out seeing rainbow rings around the lights. Running under sprinklers, just as my girls (or girl, sorry Miss E) did this morning. Being so tired that a day time nap was a must. And then awaking to an imminent storm...how big a storm??? Only time will tell. Dinner, a cool bath and then bed with only a sheet covering you. These days, so nearly exact to mine, suit me perfectly. Not only being able to have a re-do of all my childish, summer fun, but being able to introduce my two (and sometimes three) to the smell of rain.

These days mean that Summer is coming...it may be taking it's time, but the me with three can't wait. Just as excited as the me used to be.

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