Rain Keeps Falling on... My Toes

Yesterday was one of those strange weather days -- one of those where you think it will probably rain because weather.com is calling for a 60% chance of scattered thunderstorms, but the mix of breaks of bright sunshine and billows of thunderheads leaves you all confused. Should you go to that outdoor concert? Should you chance taking a walk? Should you act like a boy scout and take your raincoat with you, in the act of always being prepared? Yes, yesterday was definitely one of those days.

Elsa and I did go to the outdoor concert. And I took my raincoat just in case, but didn't end up needing it. Aside from a few sprinkles on the walk from the car to Decatur Square, the weather was actually quite lovely, and I even needed to borrow some sunscreen from Shelly to slather on Elsa. The City of Decatur holds Blue Sky Concerts every Wednesday in May from noon to one in the gazebo on the Square. Yesterday was the last concert of the year, and the first I had ever attended. We met Alison and her two boys, Finnan and Jude, and Shelly and her little boy, Christian, and all laid out our blankets and enjoyed a little picnic lunch while listening to the tunes. It was a lot of fun, and something I'll definitely take advantage of again next year.






On our way back home, we made a stop by the Oakhurst Community Garden to pick up our first CSA box. Hooray! I have been looking forward to the start of the CSA season for quite some time now. This is the same CSA we took part in last year, which is associated with Riverview Farms in Ranger, Georgia. Our first box included collard greens, turnips, radishes, broccoli, onions, arugula, and strawberries, and though I have not yet cooked the turnips themselves, we did consume the turnip greens last night, which were quite tasty. I am going to pick up an entire flat of strawberries that are arriving from the farm today and am going to split them with Kate and Shelly. Yummy. Really there is nothing like fresh, in-season, organic fruits and vegetables. And knowing we are also supporting a local farm makes it even better.

Elsa refused to take a nap yesterday afternoon, so I decided we needed to get out of the house again and take a walk. We walked past Kate's house and picked up her and her dog, Timber, and continued on our usual route. Less than halfway through it started to rain. This time I did not have my raincoat; thankfully Elsa's stroller has a collapsable canopy that I was able to extend over most of her body. The shower started out fairly innocently, but slowly progressed into a downpour. We ducked under the awning of Renfroe Middle School and tried to sit things out for awhile. The rain did die down, but didn't look like it was completely stopping any time soon, so we went ahead and braved it. Mistake. Then things really let loose. Kate and I were fairly soaked in mere minutes, but by that point it just became funny -- and even somewhat fun. We saw a beautiful full rainbow in the street that seemed to follow us as we walked, and bright rays of sunshine escaped through breaks in the clouds even during the downpour. And Elsa's little feet bounced and danced, dangling over the edge of her stroller seat as the raindrops drenched her little toes. She seemed to enjoy it. It's not something I'd like to repeat on a daily basis, but it made for an exciting afternoon all the same.