Saturday...oh the rain of it.

Rain always brings about in me a huge desire to stay cocooned in my cozy place - curled up with either a good book I've been dying to find time for, with my dogs and a hot cup of something (coffee in the morning and tea at night) or cooking a nice pot of something that smells far better than ultimately it tastes.

I always find humor in being snuggled under an afghan with the air conditioning on in the midst of a summer's rain and now it just feels normal to do so since the temps have dropped as we find ourselves in Fall's peak. With the drop in Fahrenheit, I've learned what the experts feel brings about flu season. The desire for this knowledge came about from a conversation with my daughter, who is expecting her first child and currently fighting the H1N1 flu virus that the mainstream media is hell-bent on causing near hysteria over. I'm not suggesting the fear isn't real, I merely want to point out that the power of suggestion has always been a factor in mental and physical health and believing you are going to catch something pretty much sums up that the final result will be yes, you will.

Getting back to the reasons for a flu virus's thriving in cooler temps, my nickel research told me that the virus requires more humidity to grow and the fact that we lock ourselves up during the winter months with no fresh air to speak of in our homes makes our germs more air-borne and hence easier to transmit from one person to another. And there is all that hand-shaking that takes place as well. You've got to love the art of bowing as a greeting. Keeps those germs at bay.

I've even gotten a chuckle over the little jar of hand-sanitizer I now carry with me. I sat looking at it the other day perched on my desk and was planning on using it when I realized that I was going to be handling it with dirty hands - meaning the outside would be germ ridden after I was done and I'd use it and then have to handle the container again. Made me wonder if it was all a waste of time. But then I often wonder about things. My kids call it quieting the little people who must be responsible for my thoughts since they don't think mine are normal!!

Anyway, back to rainy days and weekends, in particular, where it is hard to find energy for simple tasks that are on my to-do lists and this rainy day is no exception. Instead of doing lists, I've read blogs and newspaper articles, researched the flu, decided what to knit for my upcoming grandchild, found a new recipe for a wonderful merlot sauce, untangled the new ball of yarn that my dog unwound and dragged out into the rain and mud (thanks Henry) and realized that another day has bitten the dust and I still have that broken closet rod that fell a week ago to deal with and all those odd-sized clothes that need bagging and giving away. Basically I've concluded that I've totally enjoyed the day by doing exactly as I pleased with no one to give me grief for doing so. Okay, so Jonas nagged me a bit earlier wanting to give me help with the attic that I've been meaning to tackle f-o-r-e-v-e-r. Jonas claims he has never met anyone like me. I am thinking he didn't mean it as a compliment.

What's another day anyway in the big scheme of things? If I stall long enough, the Christmas decorations in boxes, still sitting in the hallway upstairs from last year, will be handy to pull out this year. It reminds me of the age-old question, why do we make our beds when we are only going to get in them again that evening? My daughter may have had it right when, as a child, she would make her bed and sleep on top so as not to mess it up. Begs the question....who made all these societal rules anyway?

Etiquette and societal norms - a man once asked me why women wanted their car doors opened for them when they were perfectly capable of doing it themselves. How do you explain this rationally?

Guess I want the man who understands my need for him to open my car door and what makes that special. But my rational mind says it is silly. But so are diamonds if that is the logic. And I'm not giving up on the notion that diamonds are my friend.

How did I go from rain to car doors? It is easy to explain. My mind wanders. I wonder, as I get older, if my mind will calm some as I age or if the degeneration of cells will cause some neuroblastic transformation and I'll be able to light rockets with the spark. That is a debate for another time, I'm sure.

Enjoy the rain, DC'ers...I'm grateful to be alive, able to see, hear and smell it. And, if I'm honest, very thankful that I can use it as an excuse to stay home.