Thursday Rain

It is pouring rain and there are 14 pairs of pants out on the line, dripping sadly. I know exactly how many pairs because I have developed the habit of counting them as I hang them out (last week it was 19) and figuring smugly how much money I am saving by being green. "Let's see, that would be at least 70 minutes in the dryer on high heat, which would mean....dollars on the electric bill, and x amount of the Earth's resources depleted to supply the electricity." Truth be told, these pants got hung out yesterday in the sunshine, but in the early darkness and rush to get to prayer meeting, I forgot to bring them inside. So now I am trying to decide whether I should don rain gear and umbrella and bring them in or wait for sunshine tomorrow. I think I will just hang onto my green principles and let them rinse today.
Rainy days also mean getting really, really creative to keep the small fry out of mischief. They have developed this play where one will suddenly drop down on all fours and begin barking. The other will instantly be cued to be the master and attach a collar and tie the dog up. Then there are training sessions and lots of loud barking and growling and dog feedings. The dog house is under the recliner and requires at least 3 blankets to build it properly. It is really a very innocent and amusing play, but one can only handle so much barking inside the house. However, I have to concede that it beats "panther in the bull pen".
Here's my formula for sanity on rainy days. Make play dough. Listen to audio books on Librivox. And by all means, put your laundry through the dryer.