The Chill and the Damp

Dearest Rachel –

When April showers
May come your way
They bring the flowers
That bloom in May

That’s all well and good, but what’s to be said about the showers that come in May? Does this mean they’re deferring the blossoms until June or something? And if they are, that’s not necessarily a good thing to put them off until the middle of summer, is it?

It’s a weird situation to be in at the moment, as I’m trying to get back to my old (imagine referring to this regimen of mine as ‘old’ when it didn’t start until a year or more after your departure) routine, after a week and a half of no weigh-ins and no exercise as such. Oh, Daniel and I would walk around various parts of the island (and not just the one we were staying on; there was walking to be done in Put-in-Bay, as well), but it wasn’t the same level of exertion as I put in at the gym, by any measure. So when I got back, I was actually pleased to note that I was just barely over the two-fifteen line. Even a little more sitting around in the convention hotel room didn’t affect that adversely.

That being said, if I was to resume progress on my situation, I would have to get back to the whole routine, whether I wanted to or not (and you can probably guess about the ‘whether’ in this case). This means heading up to the gym on a regular basis yet again.

But for whatever reason, Mother Nature has decided to make the walk there as discouraging as possible for the largest portion of the week. I woke this morning to the sound of rain on the bedroom roof – and if the current forecast is to be believed, this is going to go on all the way until the end of the week. This admittedly doesn’t come as a great surprise – Lars had already called yesterday afternoon, and scheduled our usual walk for Friday this week (which is unusual for him, as he prefers to meet earlier in any given week, so as to leave options open should something come up that would require changing our schedule) – but when you step out and face the chill and the damp, it’s still daunting to deal with in person.

It doesn’t help that less than a week ago, as we were driving home from the island, we were dealing with temperatures in the nineties on the road (thank heavens for air conditioning in the car; we barely noticed until I tried to roll the window down at some point to offset the effects of the sun beating in through the glass, only to discover that the air outside was hotter, even with the greenhouse effect of the windshield glass), a real shock after spending most of the week in the mid-sixties. Now, however, we’re back down to the high forties; we might get into the fifties by the end of the week when things dry up a bit, but it’s actually colder than it was at any point last week (even though we spent that last week in the middle of the lake, where it should be colder), and wetter, too.

It’s not the sort of weather for walking in, whether in the forest preserve or even the couple of blocks to the gym. Nor is it the sort of weather one expects as Midsommar is barely a month away. And yet, here I am, chilly and soaked as I make my way to the car so as not to have to deal with that much more of it on my way to exercise; this might actually be refreshing after an hour’s worth of climbing uphill, but the trip there (and thus, the trip back) is going to have to be done by mechanical means, probably until Friday rolls around.

It’s somewhat embarrassing to have to rely on my car to get me about like this; it’s not as if I haven’t dealt with worse weather earlier on in the year, after all. But at a time like this, when I’m easing myself back into the habit again after a relatively long stretch of nothing, there’s no sense in making the effort that much more unpleasant and discouraging, wouldn’t you agree? Besides, once I get there, I’m still putting in the time and effort; just because I’d rather not slog the extra two-thirds of a mile in the chill and the damp doesn’t mean I’m not trying…

But regardless, I suppose I could still stand for you to keep an eye on me, honey, and wish me luck all the same. If nothing else, I’m still going to need it.