A Walk in the Rain

January 7, 2009 - Just couldn't let the day go by without blogging about it. What's so special about today, you may wonder? After all, it was cold (35 degrees), very rainy and all together a pretty miserable weather day for most folks. However, just before 8 a.m., my precious d-o-g, Ms. Maggie Mae, let me know that she was ready for her morning walk.... in the rain.

I bundled up with a couple of clothing layers and then put on my usual rain gear and boots thinking we would probably just go out along the back stretch of pathway behind the house. It's a tree-lined path, so I knew we would be somewhat protected from the rainfall, even though the rain was coming down pretty good by now. We took off around the back of the house and down the pathway. As we walked, I was quickly reminded of the nakedness of the trees; it's WINTER! So of course the rain found its way all over us, but still I wasn't worried because I just knew that any minute, Ms. Maggie Mae would turn around and head back home. As we neared the end of the tree-lined path and much to my surprise, she kept right on going. We crossed the first, then second, then continued on toward the many other small bridges all along the waters of the Inner Bays of the Chesapeake!

At first, I was a little disappointed, but very quickly my attitude changed and I began to feel totally opposite and actually, invigorated! There we were, the only tenants in the entire subdivision out walking in the pouring down rain and loving it. As I walked further, I laughed at the rain drops steadily falling from the rim around the hoodie of my coat. I had not brought an umbrella since I just knew we wouldn't be out long!

As we neared the Pier, the winds picked up just enough that the cold rain blew into my face, but I didn't care. Ms. Maggie Mae didn't seem to mind too much either as every now and then, she would stop just for a second and shake off the rain drops from her coat. She seemed to be enjoying the walk as much as I was.

I began taking in all that Mother Nature has given us, if we will just open our eyes and look. First, there were all the geese and the mallards just about everywhere you looked. Around one corner, we came upon some of the brightest colored cardinals I've seen in a few weeks. They seemed to be working on getting some twigs for a nest or perhaps there was some sort of food in the shrubs they were nestling among. However, our greatest treat of our early morning walk came as we were rounding the curve of one of the larger ponds, at the back of some of the homes near the Bay. Maggie was about 20 yards ahead of me and as I came around the curve and was directly behind her, a large red Fox jumped from the side of the pond and began running along the path in front of her and toward the opposite side of the pond.

Of course, Maggie got so excited and took out running after the Fox. I called her to stop and though she didn't want to, she did. I quickly put a leash on her and then we continued in pursuit of the Fox. I kept my eye on him as I was leashing up Maggie, but he ran into the brush on the opposite side of the pond. I assumed he was getting himself some water and was surprised by Maggie earlier, especially since I was so far behind her. As we neared the opposite side, we came to her favorite fork in the pathway which took her mind off the fox, thank goodness.

As always, Maggie has to decide whether to go up the hill through the neighborhood of some of her favorite friends or toward the Pier where she sometimes chases seagulls and sees other fox friends. It's always a very hard decision for her and Mike and I always enjoy seeing the look on her face at that particular destination of her many walks. She so enjoys going both ways and on many walks, I will let her cirlce back around from the Pier so that she can swing through that neighborhood and visit with some of her doggie friends, in the event they are out in their yards. She thinks that is so special!

Though we never saw the fox again today, we know we will see one or more of them again. This is their territory all around the Bay area and we just happen to live here with them, near the waters edge. I am happy to be sharing this space with them. They are simply beautiful and so eloquent to me. When they run, they actually are very light on their feet and hold their heads up as if in a perfect picture. Neighbor ladies have asked me, "aren't you afraid of them?"... well, no I am not. They turn and run at the sight of me and/or my voice. They avoid people! I've actually taken a photo of one fox that was "touring" our back yard a few months ago on a very rainy day and I had to take the photo through the window of our 3rd floor bedroom and with the fox steady moving, so the photo is not very clear. If I had opened the window, however, the noise would have scared him off. I am posting this blury photo anyway. Hopefully some day soon, I will get that perfect shot of one, though I doubt it.... they are too darn fast!

We finally made it back home after about 30 minutes in the rain. Our rain gear was completely wet, but our spirits were very high! We enjoyed it so much that we did it again, around 6:30 this evening and yes, in the rain. It was dark so the sights were much less exciting, even though I was thankful that some of our neighbors have still got their multiple Christmas lights up on their porches and balconies and that made this night walking in the rain also special.

In closing, I just hope that others can take the time to slow down your fast-paced and chaotic life, and perhaps even take a walk in the rain sometime. You won't melt, I promise! Afterall, and as the saying goes,

"Life isn't about waiting for the storms to pass; It's about learning to dance in the rain!"