Clingy cats

It's storming as I write this....another cool front is moving across the area. That means several things: Gardner takes better naps since it's dimmer in his nursery, I am inspired to pick up once again notable literature and delve into its pages (rain makes it ok to be "lazy" sometimes), and the cats are very clingy. They hate thunder, much like a small child would. Funny how my little son is happily chewing on his toys wherever I happen to go in the house, but the two cats are tracking my heels, not letting me out of their sight.

Rainy days like this one inspire me to all kinds of indoor creative stuff....scrapbooking, reading, writing, cooking, moving decorative items around in my house in order to create a different atmosphere. As much as I'm itching to go outside again today and take a long walk, or even plant those annuals I am scheduled to plant to place on my front porch steps, I am bound indoors until this rain ends.

I remember my mom had a book full of rainy day activities that she pulled out on a stormy summer day or a rainy Saturday. I remember doing experiments such as letting celery stalks "drink up" red and blue water, making bunnies out of cotton balls, making chicks out of yellow pom-poms, and even doing the trick where the hard-boiled and peeled egg gets sucked into a jar. The house I grew up in was full of opportunities to learn and expand our horizons....I love that.

So take advantage of this rainy day. Use it to its fullest potential. Pull out some paper and write an old friend. Bake a batch of those cookies that your busy schedule and guilty conscience wouldn't let you bake until now. Call a family member to catch up. Pull out your camera and get some splendid shots of the beauty outside....with spring just itching to burst forth in all her glory, the flowers lapping up the rain hungrily. Look at rain as an opportunity...not as an obstacle.