Feel the Rain On Your Skin

It's supposed to rain this weekend. Friday and Saturday. Why does the prospect of a rainy weekend fill me with joy? Why does it make my heart soar and cause my feet to do a happy dance---not once, not twice, but every single time I think of our weekend weather forecast?

This story begins several months ago as we diligently began preparations for my mother's upcoming move to a smaller home. The melancholy and odious task of paring down her possessions took on an even more sinister glow when, as we stood surveying the attic storage room, she said brightly, "Well, obviously we'll need to have a yard sale. Let's do it up at your house. You'll get more traffic there."

Inwardly I cringed. I loathe the very idea of having a yard sale. I focused on maintaining a neutral expression as my mind began to spin. Was there any possibility of escape? Then it came to me. "Hey! Maybe our neighbor will help us!" That thought was selfishly followed by, "Maybe she'll do it for us!"

Our neighbor is what I could call a professional re-seller. She knows good junk from bad junk and can turn both kinds into cash. Plus she enjoys it. When I broached the subject with her, she immediately jumped on board. (See why I bake her a quiche now and then? She's gold. Pure gold.)

Last Sunday evening, she came over and slapped a wad of cash onto the dining room table. "$319 dollars!" she announced gleefully.

That cash was from my mother's items our neighbor had sold at the monthly flea market she attends. She's also moved some things via ebay. The 50/50 split for whatever sells seems unworthy considering the amount of effort she's putting in.

The actual yard sale was scheduled for this Saturday until the weather forecast changed her plan. Oh sure, it's just postponing the inevitable and we'll have to live another week or so with our screen porch piled full of my mother's junk. But that's not much of a price for the prospect of a Saturday at home with no commitments.

A Saturday. At home. With no commitments.
Feel it with me. Ahhhh! It's been a while.

Will I ever understand the cosmic circumstance that surrounds me with people who are so generous in so many ways? Perhaps I'll contemplate that question after we sleep in Saturday then lounge around in bed drinking coffee from our weekend mugs.

Then again, maybe just I'll roll over and go back to sleep.
My feet are twitching their happy dance just thinking about it.

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