We had our first rain of the season last night. Around here, that’s like the first day of spring. This year, it hasn’t rained since some time last March, I think it was. It was short–a burst that lasted less than a minute, then a light rain for another few minutes, and that was about it.
But it definitely signals a turning of the seasons. Astronomy be damned, seasons are really about the weather, as far as us biological beings are concerned. The first rain is always a relief to me. It cleans and softens the air, it brings out the aromatic resins from the plants, it changes the quality of the light. It was so warm this morning that I went outside to finish my morning tea. Which was pleasant, but served to bring to my notice all the yard work that needs to be done 😦 .
Unfortunately, it’s not going to stay this warm. I’m worried about my old Shiba boy. He’s been banned to the yard for some time now because he’s no longer continent. I could handle the dropped poops in the house, but when he began peeing on the rug (he can’t lift his leg any more, he pees as he walks), that was it–outside for him. I have a nice dog house outside for him on the back patio, but he likes to sleep in the dirt out by the fence. I’m afraid he literally isn’t going to have the sense to come in out of the rain. It’s hard for him to get to his feet these days, and I’m afraid he’s just going to hunker down and try to wait rain out on cold nights, which is only going to make his arthritis worse. I can lock him in the back room, but that freaks him out (I tried that last winter.) Being a Shiba, he has a pretty good coat, and has always preferred cold to heat, so up to a point he’ll be OK. But I’m worried about what to do when it gets really cold and wet.
OK, I just needed to get that off my chest. He’s OK for now, or as OK as he gets these days. And for all my worry about the coming weeks and months, I’m glad to see the rain nonetheless.
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