Went for a walk this morning. It happened to be raining - I didn't care, I'm walking! Gotta walk. On my morning perambulation, though, I had at least 6 people say something like "You'll get RAINED ON!". Um, why yes, I will - it's raining. And?
What is this huge fear, in our day and age and where we live, of GETTING WET? I could see if this were a time or a place where we didn't have central heating, Gore-Tex, hot showers, medical care that doesn't involve killing you to cure you, etc. Or if I were, say, insisting on walking from here to the symphony in gown and high heels in the pouring rain.
But I'm in my comfies and walking shoes, it's 10am on a Thursday morning, and after I walk I'm going straight home to shower and put on clean dry clothes and socks and have some hot soup for lunch. So what do I care if I get wet? Yet it was like I was offering myself up to the Black Plague. "But ... but you'll get WET!" Yes, and I'll be dry again very soon after. "Oh, come inside, your hair is getting wet". Yeah ... hair can get wet, it's amazing, it's almost like every morning when you shower!
Along with "You'll get WET!" I frequently hear: "But you'll get COLD!". Yes, and I'll be warm again soon after, the same as getting wet/dry - why this fear of a bit of cold temperature in our situation? It makes the warm house seem even beautifully warm and safe. Again, if this were a place where I had to fight for my very survival and every scrap of cloth meant the difference between life and death, sure, I'd be concerned. But I'm privileged to live where and when I do, so all it means to me here is that .... I'll be cold for a few minutes. What does that matter? It feels good.
Recently I also was told "Oh, you can't really like to walk all that way home" - heard while out walking for my health. They followed with "come inside for some poundcake, then my son who is visiting will drive you home". This while I was only 20 blocks from home, all little neighborhood blocks, no big streets to cross, all with sidewalks. And I'm fat. I'm out walking for weight loss and general overall health improvement. I know she meant well, and she is an adorable sweet little lady who loves the world around her, every part of it, and someone that I would do anything I could to help in a time of trouble. BUT. 20 blocks home?? When I had just told her that yesterday's walk was 6 miles long? At least she has never said "But you'll get WET!" - she understands. I've seen her out in her garden in the rain, talking to the crows in her apple tree and letting chickadees take seeds from her upturned hands, her wet hair running down her back and water dripping off her cardigan into her green garden boots.
And now that I'm showered and dry and full of potato soup goodness, I have to say - my hair is so darn soft, smooth, silky and shiny from all that rainwater. My new beauty secret: walking in the rain without a hat on.
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