The husband and I are drawing a blank. This is something that's happened before.
In fact, it's happened pretty much every year for as long as I can recall, usually right about now. The weather will threaten to turn for the worse, and we'll look at each other, confused.
"Oh, dear," one of us will say. "It's supposed to rain on Saturday. And on Sunday, too."
We will cast back our minds to those long-ago rainy weekends.
"What did we do when it rained?" we'll ask each other.
There won't be an easy answer.
Truth is, we've been amusing ourselves outside for as long as we can recall. Biking. Swimming. Hiking. Picnicking. Golfing.
Sitting.
We've been hanging out at farmers' markets and on ball field bleachers and on restaurant patios and on the sundeck, within arm's reach of the barbecue. We've wandered seawalls and kicked back at the beach and sipped wine on cottage verandahs.
"Won't exactly be beach weather this weekend," I muttered.
"And all those patios will be closed," added the husband.
"Honestly," I said. "I haven't the foggiest what we used to do. But we should come up with some ideas."
I grabbed a piece of paper.
I wrote: Mall. I wrote: Roller rink. I wrote: Baking.
The husband looked at me.
"The mall?" he asked. "Why would we go to the mall? We'd only want to spend money."
I shrugged my shoulders. "And I don't bake," he said. "And frankly, neither do you."
I nodded. "And roller rink?" he asked. "Where is there a roller rink?" "I don't know," I said. "But there must be one somewhere! And I'm only trying to help! What are YOUR ideas?" The husband considered the question. It was a while before he answered.
"Well," he offered, quietly. "We could go to a matinee."
"There's NOTHING decent playing right now!" I said. "Besides, matinees last all of two hours! We have all of Saturday and Sunday to fill in!" He thought again. "We could go for a drive," he said.
"And?" I asked. "And nothing," he said. "We drive. And then we come home."
OK, I thought. This is what it had come to. The rain was returning. And not simply for that weekend, but likely many, many more.
To heck with a drive, we decided. To heck with the mall.
We'd hop on our bikes no matter what. To heck with staying dry.
