Eye of the Storm

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The dry, warm days of summer ended abruptly today with the arrival of Storm Ali. Delight at the thought of yellow and brown leaves being blown around my feet prompted me to take a short walk with the intention of pinning posters on the Parish Noticeboard.

I was on a tight schedule, squeezing the stroll between exercise classes this morning and a trustees' meeting at the almshouse this afternoon. Consequently I walked fast and the effect was indeed bracing, until the pernicious clouds above turned an ominous shade of grey, scudded overhead and then emptied their complete contents over me. If that wasn't enough, as I waded through rivers of water, the wind lashed the rain into my eyes, stinging and causing me to stumble blindly in the direction of home.

Of course there was something exhilarating about the whole experience, not least when I felt rain run past my collar, down the back of my neck and in streams all the way to my socks. As my showerproof jacket surrendered to the elements, my only consolation was the positivity that comes from knowing that flesh is waterproof.

Back at home, my hair hanging in lank ringlets and my eyes bloodshot, I dripped my way across the hallway. Despite the rain ceasing and the sun re-emerging at the moment I crossed the threshold, there remained a strange sense of elation.

Sometimes, I accept that being at one with nature and appreciating the outdoors has to go further than tending to my vegetable plot or walking across fells in good weather. However, I confess that cheerfulness at the demise of summer and my near drowning as a result is totally out of character and has to have a rational explanation.

Perhaps it is simply the positive effect of retirement itself or maybe I can attribute it to another stimulating Yoga session. Forget mindfulness and meditation, the instructor morphed into a lifestyle guru this week, as she urged us to spend an hour relaxing our minds and bodies from the busyness of life before, towards the end of the class, exhorting us to remain busy and have no time for dramas, sorrows, worries or regrets. Soaked through or not, that has to be a healthy recipe for retirement.

 

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