As I stepped through the front doorway, I saw the wet pavement and smelled the scents of recent rain. I shrug it off happily; I’ll pick up a coffee on my way to the trailhead, in case I find myself waiting for a break in the rain.

[No AI is used in writing or editing this blog. This is human content for human readers.]

Good call. The rain began to fall as I got into the car. It’s still falling as I pulled into the parking lot. It’s still falling now. I’m okay with it. I like the rain. I sit with my coffee, contentedly waiting for a break in the rain, sun roof cracked open to let in the fresh scent of rainfall and petrichor. I enjoy the sound of rain falling on the car.

I breathe, exhale, and relax, taking time with meditation, letting the rain fall without stress or concern. Beyond the rain, I hear distant HVAC. I am serene and unbothered. Feels like a good start to the day.

…It keeps raining…

I sigh to myself. If it’s going to rain like this indefinitely – and maybe it will – I’m going to want my rain gear where I can get to it more easily. This morning it is neatly packed away in my gear bin, in the back of the car (SUV), and in the time it will take to pull it out and put it on, I’ll be soaked. The break in the rain I’m looking for only needs to be long enough to find and put on my rain poncho.

… I think about that rain poncho for a moment. It’s the same cheap IKEA rain poncho I’ve kept stuffed with my gear since… 2014? How is that thing even still water resistant? I remind myself to check it carefully and be certain of its continued usefulness, and maybe replace it…

Nothing lasts forever, least of all these finite mortal lives. I sigh to myself and decide to get on with it, in spite of the rain. It’s Oregon, and fall is almost here, it’s going to rain… maybe a lot. I mentally walk through the steps of getting my rain poncho out of my gear bin. It’s raining pretty hard right now. I put my headlamp on and let it hang from my neck. It’s still dark. It stays dark later each morning by some small amount. I reach behind me grateful that I’d flung my fleece there yesterday morning. Handy. It will keep some of the rain off while I dig around in the back of the car. As if on cue, it begins to rain harder.

Out of curiosity, I look at the wildfire map. On the map it looks like the entire west coast is on fire, with a small thin slice along the western edge untouched. I feel grateful to live within that slice of my state that is not on fire. I’m grateful for the rain, too. I hope it drenches the land and quenches the fires.

…Of course. I check the weather radar map showing the precipitation. Looks like it’s only raining over the areas that are not on fire. Cosmic humor isn’t reliably amusing to mere mortals.

I sigh to myself. I’ve stalled long enough, and it’s time to begin. Again.