As difficult as blue sky and sunshine makes it to focus, cool rainy days have the opposite effect. For this reason I love rainy days as much as sunny days?they’re both beautiful in their own way.
The grey rainy days mean I get lots of work done. I can lock myself away in the office and work for hours. I can drink hot (caffeinated) tea in comfort, and they give me the opportunity to tackle other projects that otherwise would go ignored.
The rainy days are ones that you don’t mind spending inside, they feel a bit cozier, a bit more productive. The weather this summer has been sporadic, with downpours and beautiful sunshine, the perfect combination if we ignore that this combination also makes the lawn grow like mad. But, then again, mowing the lawn is the time I get to catch up on informative podcasts, ones that act as entertaining research on an industry.
Today I, yet again, tore apart my office and made a large, precarious, stack of books; taking them off the shelf and stacking them on a table emphasizes the size of the collection. This time, I don’t have to move them far, it is the switching out of one bookshelf for another (larger) book shelf. But, regardless, the stack is a bit daunting when I realize that in the un-shelving I didn’t keep them organized (note to self in future).
Many of these books came from courses I took at Athabasca University. Some of them I have referenced many times, others only a handful. Some I have a couple duplicates and yet for some reason I can’t bear to part with them. It might be the early symptoms of book hoarding. But, there is something comforting is being surrounded by books: knowledge’d knowing that there is a supply of references near at hand if I need them.
This un-shelving is leaving me with another project, the “new” shelf is not, in fact, new at all, but one coming out of storage full of dust, dirt, possibly oil, and, I’m sure at one point or another, mouse poop.
The wonderful thing about a rainy day is I managed to un-shelve (productively procrastinate), get work done for the internship, complete another project, and pluck something out of storage to be reused rather then end up buried in a hole. While, granted I have to wash it (with bleach I am sure) and paint it, it will make a transformation and be a welcome addition to my office.
I’m not sure what I am hoping for in the next few days, sunny weather so I can get the work done on the shelf outside, or rainy days to keep me holed up in my office where I can be lost in the work I love? Of course, there is always the option of working outside, and maybe by then my sunburns will have healed and I can relax in the sun with the shelf drying and work still being finished.
Either way, there is something beautiful in even the dreariest weather. Instead of mourning the days lacking sunshine, take advantage of the gloom and get some projects done that have been waiting, get a few units ahead of schedule and make time for those days when the sun pops out and lets you get outside. The best way to take advantage of the summer weather, is to take advantage of it all, not just the sun.
Deanna Roney is an AU graduate who loves adventure in life and literature. Follow her path on the writing journey at https://deannaroney.wordpress.com/