A nice afternoon

My poor little Boo was having a bad day yesterday and since she hates her stroller (which is actually her carseat set on wheels- you can imagine how well car rides go over) I decided to try the Baby Bjorn to take her on a walk because let's face it, I should be running 10 miles a day and becoming best friends with my weights but based on the Grumpy One's edicts, a walk will have to do. The Bjorn was loaned to us by Julie (hereafter to be known as Binkie Goddess). We have the Ergo, which is supposed to be kinder on the back, but until she is 4 months old the Bub has to be squished into an infant insert which squashes her into what basically amounts to a Baby-Taco and is only acceptable when she is too asleep to argue about it. So anyway. The Bjorn began killing my back on the first block, but away we went anyway because she wasn't crying and anytime she is not crying is huge success in my book. We wound around through some green belts in the neighborhood and her eyes were getting sleepy and I looked up at the sky and noticed big huge dark gray clouds. I thought to myself, Self, Dave has taught you about this. Unlike in California where those clouds would probably mean nothing, they always mean something in Oregon. I argued back to myself that probably that couldn't be true and since here we were on this lovely walk who was I to ruin it?


Four seconds later, a light rain started. OH NO, I said aloud, waking the baby, thinking a downpour was imminent, and saying a silent prayer that if I kept going the way I was I could find a shorter route home and also PLEASE DON'T LET IT RAIN ON MY BABY. I don't really know our neighborhood very well, but I kept going, turning when I felt inclined and all of a sudden I was in front of my street, much more quickly than if I had backtracked the way I knew how, and I made it to our house with nothing more than a very fine rain gently misting us. I was so sure that my prayer had been answered that I stayed on the stoop, sure that the moment we were safe, the real downpour would start. I wasn't disappointed. We weren't safe and dry 30 seconds before the hard rain hit. The baby and I stood peacefully on the step, marvelling at our dryness and the calm sweet blessing we'd just been the recipients of. It was a nice afternoon.