We waited for it, rain that was long overdue. Then it came in torrents wetting our fields and lawns.

The foliage in my yard was looking so dehydrated I had to turn sprinklers and the drip system on to give it all a drink. That was about four days before the sky turned cloudy and finally let loose enough precipitation to flood my pasture.

Two hours after a few days of rain, the sky broke for a couple of days and all that water receded almost instantly.

Having good drainage is the key. I don’t know what makes it so, but when there is literally a lake of water, once it subsides; within two to four hours my lake is gone. It was good hearing the downpour on my roof. But we will probably be living with rain for the next several months. If it does like last year, better batten down the hatches because it might be a long spring.

Murphy’s Law says it will be nice during the week and pouring down rain on the weekends. That’s because most of us work during the week and are off on weekends. So much for having outdoor fun.

Of course if you are a skier, you are doing the happy dance. You’ll finally get to try out those new skiis you got for Christmas. However, I am wondering how much kickback the ski parks will give on those early seasonal lift purchases.

The weather did cut the skiing season short.

What do you do when it’s raining outside and you are confined to indoor life?

Some suggestions include: Read a good book, watch TV, play board games, clean the house, rearrange the house, go to the movies, go shopping, volunteer your time to a good cause somewhere indoors.

When the weather is mean and nasty outside, I cook.

I know, it’s a dangerous thing, but that’s what I do. Usually it’s country cuisine like pot roast, or I go Italian with spaghetti, southern beans, a casserole, stuffed, baked chicken, or I sometimes bake cookies.

Rainy weather is good for the soul. You can connect with your inner self because you are a captive audience. My sister used to do a lot of ironing on rainy days. I really try avoid ironing. I say empty the dryer when the buzzer goes off and fold or hang immediately.

This time of year, when it’s cold and wet, I like to get all the scatter rugs washed and sit down and work on my taxes. It’s a good time to dust the furniture, get those ugly cobwebs off the ceiling and de-clutter the desk and places we usually plop our mail, and other paperwork until we can finally get to it.

I finally got a rain gutter with a downspout on my porch eves, but the little roof over my carport room’s door doesn’t have a gutter. That means when I use the door, I get soaked in a heavy rainfall. What’s really fun in the wet weather is dealing with livestock. Oh yeah, it’s so much fun wading though muck. Fortunately we who do this wear tall rubber boots. The other day I needed to run to the barn to feed and didn’t take the time to pull on those rubber boots. I just put my rubber garden clogs on … the kind with the low heel.

What I had forgotten was the fact that between the house and the barn is a low area where the water puddles, sometimes several inches deep in a downpour.

Well, by the time I realized it, it was too late. Those low cut rubber shoes did nothing to protect my feet. When I was back in the house, I headed to the bathroom to wring out my socks in the wash basin. They were soaked – about a half cup soaked with water.

Soon, we will complain about the rain because it will seem to go on and on. It does have a tendency to be depressing to some folks. That’s why we need outlets to compensate for boredom. I don’t think it is truly boredom as much as the fact that we can’t do other things we enjoy more.

While housework is pure drudgery to me, it’s a necessary series of tasks to be complete on a semi regular basis. That being said, I will spread the tasks out over a period of a few rainy evenings so not to disturb my weekends, all the time praying for sunshine on those two days off.

Whatever you do, don’t forget to put the garbage lid on tight. There is nothing nice about having to dump the water out without letting the garbage slip through.