Rain

It’s been raining for two days straight. What’s a girl to do? Certainly not homework.

I made chicken soup, of course, with a new recipe for “Country Cornmeal Buttermilk Bread”. It contains all the ingredients I have on hand. I am a very lazy cook in that way – I like to see what I can make out of what I have in the fridge or pantry. It is like a personal challenge to make something extraordinary that doesn’t require my going to the store. I made a sugar free pumpkin pie (without crust) for my dieting husband too. Then, I added a pork roast and veggies with my secret low-fat recipe broiled potatoes. As that was all simmering, I cleaned my cabin so it would smell nice and look welcoming when everyone got home. I changed our sheets and set the table. I went to the post office to pick up the mail, knowing we would have another Net Flix movie in our box. Rain calls for a good movie, I think.    

Did all this stuff stop the rain? Never does. But it does make the world cozier when the family gathers at the end of the day. Comfort food, a clean house (with a fire going, of course) and the sound of rain pounding the roof is the perfect recipe for a nice evening. Food isn’t the only savory thing I know how to cook up, ya know.   

But, before I can enjoy any of this, I still have to go visit the land to feed the horses. I will be standing out there under the dripping sky (more like buckets of water than drips) grumbling because my donkey and llama eat so slowly. I will visit the chickens, at least feeling good that they have a nice dry nesting place. Then, I will visit the house and see what small progress might have occurred today, sighing because time is passing so slowly as I await this coveted move. I then will go back to the pasture to unhook the horses, which will now be finished and getting all pushy for an apple. I’ll give them each two, blinking through drenched bangs as I consider how my muddy sneakers are going to grubby up the car again.

At last, I will return home. By then, I will be cold, wet, and hungry. The heck with the family – I think I cleaned the house and made a nice dinner today for ME, knowing what the rain really means to my day.

Mark will come home and feel all snuggly and happy after a good meal and a movie. He will sit by the fire with his coffee and start thinking of those clean sheets upstairs. So, he will lean over intimately and open his mouth to say something suggestive, but just as he does I’ll sigh and say . . .  “See ya. I have homework.”

What’s a girl to do? It’s been raining for two days now . . . I had to make soup.