White Rain

     Ah yes, another lovely day slopping the hogs!  Well, I don't have hogs...but the llamas are pretty sloppy looking right now!  Women...you know how when you're husband leaves, everything that can go wrong does go wrong?  No matter how much you try to pre-empt it...it gets you!
     So, hubby had to leave for a business trip to Mexico.  Yes, warm weather, sunshine and yummy food!  Me?  Someone has to slop the hogs!  I mean, feed the dogs!  This time it was Mother Nature that had to get involved in my chores!  Another bright and early, before I was even dressed ordeal.  (I do think I will sleep in my clothes from now on!)  Rain helps me sleep.  I love to be in bed during a storm.  So, I was enjoying the early morning patter when the dog…dang dog, Chip…started barking.  He barks at EVERYTHING!  Well, all the dogs started in, so up I fly to look out the window.  The propane truck is here and tentatively backing around the front of the house.  I just happened to have parked our pickup out there and was worried the driver might back into it…so….Another morning of running out of the house in my pj’s.  This time I managed to grab some boots (not winter type, high heel dressy type) to keep my feet from freezing as the rain was a bit icy!   T-shirt, flannel plaid pants and high heel boots...running out of the house, across the yard, behind the moving propane truck!  Did you see it coming?  I didn’t!  Yep, down I went…best second base save of the season!  Foot hit the icy grass, knee hit the mud, sliding up to the hip, shoulder hits and here it comes…the roll from side to back…and still sliding.  AND…the propane truck was still backing up!  So, I managed that incredible maneuver from lying on my back to standing in a split second!  The driver of the truck opens his window and yells out…”I’m new.  Where’s your tank?”  I point and ask if he needs our vehicle moved.  Nope.  Second base roll for nothing!  Green slimy mud decorated my lovely outfit from my knee all the way up my side as I hobbled back to the house, dripping goo from under the back of my shirt!
     Okay…clean up and get dressed.  Got the dog, Izzy, a shock collar to teach her to stay off the highway, so put it on the charger.  Out to feed the llamas and then a hike to try out the new collar.  I get to the barn to find out that half of it is flooded!  The rain starts pouring down!  Gee, memories of a flooding barn back when we lived in MN are telling me to go back in the house!  That time it was trenching in the pouring rain to save our baby chicks!  De ja vu!  Two hours later, I have the trench around the boy’s side of the barn completed.  The rain never stopped and I was again soaked to the bone!  Boys will be dry, good work.  I entered the house and thinking it should be a bit warmer than it was, got side tracked trying to figure out the controls on the dog collar.  I had already replaced it once due to malfunction.  The remote wasn’t talking to the collar.  Dang thing.  Maybe it needs to charge longer?  So, I plug it in…only to find out our electricity was out!  Are we seeing a theme here?  Wet and cold, no hot water, no heat.  Gee, no lights, no computer, no TV.  No microwave, no stove…no getting warm, no entertainment, no eating…NO HUSBAND!  He’s in Mexico, in the sunshine, eating great food!  I’m here… still no power …watching the rain as it turns white! As the sun goes down it glows in the moonlight. It’s brighter outside than in the house! I bet it’s warmer, too! I’m sleeping in my clothes!!! J