Tuesday, April 26, 2005

Dampened Spirits

I left a sunny west Texas this morning (leaving so early that we had to drop the kids off in the cafeteria where they sat looking very forlorn), and I enjoyed a relatively smooth, ontime, uneventful flight to Dallas Ft. Worth, where I caught the flight to Cincinnati. All was fine until we got about 30 minutes out--and suddenly, the lovely patchwork fields below were gone--obscured by thick, white, cottony clouds. At least they were white on top, where we were....but when we descended into the Cincinnati airport, they became grey and foreboding. "Chance of light showers and 55 degrees" the pilot said. Uh, oh. I had hoped against hope we wouldn't have a soggy Rolex.

So much for hope. I walked through a light drizzle to my rental car, and drove down 75 south, turning the windshield wipers up every mile or so until they were at top speed around the water tower that said "Florence Y'all" (I think it used to say "Florence Mall" but water towers weren't supposed to advertise, so they repainted the "M"--talk about Southern Ingenuity!). It was more than "light showers"; it was a downpour.

I stopped at a rest stop just north of the Georgetown exist, and spoke to two absolutely lovely ladies as I procured various maps (my last name often has "Wrong Way" in front of it). They lamented that, for the last three years, Rolex has been soggy--"you think they'd learn!"

Since I was due to arrive in Paris, KY, where I'd be staying (with my brother and his family) a little earlier than they'd be home, I stopped off at the local Wal-Mart to purchase some rain gear--waterproof pants and a jacket. I hope the volunteer "uniform"--khaki pants and a white shirt--can be covered if the weather gets any worse.

I had a lovely dinner with my sister-in-law and my niece, and now I'm unpacking for the long haul. Come rain, or snow, or dark of night-like-clouds, this volunteer's spirits won't be dampened, even if her body is!

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