Long walks in the rain

It rains in Scotland. This is a fact of life.

For years, I've been that person - you know, the one with the umbrella with a span large enough to keep a 747 dry? I could probably have attempted a Mary Poppins impression with my largest one last year. Yes, I had three - one purse-sized from Rite-Aid, and a medium-sized umbrella and an enormous umbrella from a Costco set. I could shelter three people under the largest. This was a good thing, as it also rains a lot in New Haven.

Unfortunately, rain is almost a constant in Edinburgh. While we certainly had nasty, water-wicking-up-to-the-knee days in New Haven, they were interspersed with days of at least partial sun. Here, rain's almost a daily thing, sort of like a colder version of the weather in Florida. I carry a small, easily portable umbrella for this purpose. Gone are the days of aerodynamically sound rain gear - the sidewalks are just too narrow.

Today was a typical day, bits of threatening clouds interspersed with weak sun. Around three o'clock, having finished Slaughterhouse 5 (interesting, and I'm glad I finally had a chance to read it!), I decided my options were nap or take a walk, and the rain was holding off. Grabbing my rain jacket, I headed off to the park to explore the area behind the Salisbury Craigs.

Ordinarily, I have an almost feline aversion to non-frozen precipitation. Edinburgh must be screwing with my mind, because when it started sprinkling when I was halfway to the park, I just kept going. It broke into a short-lived full-fledged rain as I came around the back of the Craigs, then abated enough for me to take off my jacket - it's designed for skiing, and there's no ventilation in that thing. So there I was, taking the 15-minute walk back from the park in jeans and a tank top, in the 50-degree mist. Everyone else seemed to be wearing coats...oh well, at least I left the sandals at home today.