Monday, August 25

Falling on my Head

Notorious for its low grey skies, heavy cloud cover and relentless rain, The Netherlands seems set to best its own record for rainfall this summer. I tend to anthropomorphize everything in life and in my mind, THE NETHERLANDS is a big busty blond woman who wears too much lipstick and who has a propensity for chatting with her best friend MOTHER NATURE. The two of them get to gossiping and forget to turn off the damn flood gates of heaven and let the sunshine through to the lowlands every once in awhile.

I am a little bitter that they are spending so much time together, yes.

With the holiday week in Croatia under our belts I was all set to return home to afternoon tanning reading in the garden and lots of evening chats with neighbors under clear night skies.

Clearly, I forgot where I live.

Instead of the sun, we've had rain. And lots of it. I admit I am no scientist and have no metering device for this summer's rainfall but I am pretty sure the measure would be a SUPER LARGE number, like maybe GAJILLIONS of raindrops, which no matter how you look at it is certainly MORE than I wished for.

But THE NETHERLANDS and MOTHER NATURE aren't taking my calls.

My google search tells me that on average this country receives over 800 mm of yearly rainfall. I converted that to inches (for those of us who think archaically) and it read 30 1/2. I will help put that in perspective for all of us: it means A LOT.
Winter time is the most obvious receiver of rainfall. And the spring. Also, fall tends to see an awful lot of the wet stuff from the skies. But summer? Summer is supposed to be sacred. Dry and sacred. And sunny.

When I sat down to write this post I was certain there would be a point to it by the time I reached the end. However, whatever it might have been is eluding me now. I think we can chalk this one up to a massive wingeing on my part. You see, the sheets and towels on the outside line have stayed damp for days, friends; my youngest has his winter cough already welling up in his chest; the short sleeve shirts and capri length jeans haven't seen the light of day this season (I do insist though on wearing my flip-flops--it seems a crime to have summer without them). Though the rain barrel is full my glass appears to be half-empty, folks.

Fill it up for me, won't you?

*****************************
ASK AND YOU SHALL RECEIVE!
SQUEAK AND YOU SHALL GET GREASE!
UPDATE: Here's a little something to cheer me
(and give you something better to read)
To my surprise and great honor
Can you stop by there too and say something?
Seriously, it would mean so much.
A big thank you to Bloggers Annex
and a big thank you to you, my readers and friends.

15 comments:

  1. Here's my comment from your post at Bloggers Annex:

    Brillig, everybody who reads Jenn's blog has a crush on her, and now new readers will, too.

    Jenn, this is great. I not only enjoyed the sound effects marking time as we went (with you) from place to place, but I was so relieved when we (uh, you) finally figured out what was deepest inside ... Grandpa.

    I was only four when my Pops died, but there's something deep inside that must remember him as special ... because I plan to be buried next to him. My grandmother remarried and was buried in Florida when she died, and she had given me the family lots at the cemetery. When I lived nearby for over 15 years, I would climb to the top of the cemetery's hill on my walks and rest by sitting on "my" spot ... or on his granite marker, if the grass was damp. Now I'm the oldest member of the family and my youngest grandchild is eight:
    http://bonniesbooks.blogspot.com/2008/07/book-review-team-of-bonnie-and-cady.html
    I wonder what she'll remember about me.

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  2. Rain in the Netherlands? You must be joking...HA!
    If it makes you feel any better, Belgium isn't much better. Hans says all the rain is what keeps everything green all summer. I say "hou je mond op Hans".

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  3. No surprise about the Annex - you're GOOD! :)

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  4. Commented over on the AnneX. ;-)

    Oh, that rain... we now have gorgeous weather here and wasps have decided to make our outdoor table their home. Good old Murphy!

    Here's to a glass half full with your favorite beverage!

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  5. Keep your flip-flops on, girlfriend! Summer's not over yet! And whether your glass is half-full or half-empty, there's still more wine in it to be drunk! And when it's ALL empty (a condition you're sure to recognize), you can fill it up again!

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  6. Summer without flip-flops, definitely a travesty!

    I wish some sunshine for you soon :o)

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  7. Yay for Bloggers Annex! (And Bonnie's right... we DO all sorta have a crush on you... *sniff* I though I was special, like I was the only one. Sigh.)

    As for the rain, I SALUTE you, my dear, for wearing your flip flops ANYWAY. Blowing some of my Denver sunshine your way...

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  8. Summer in the Netherlands.. Yeah well. There is no such thing I'm afraid...

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  9. The one and only time I was fortunate enough to visit Holland, it was for three sun-filled weeks in August many years ago. I'm sorry you're living through a deluge!

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  10. Hey, is "GAJILLIONS" a metric term, too? Could you convert it for this here dumb American?

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  11. Ahhh, we're getting tons of the wet stuff too. It's so annoying isn't it? Sigh. And your Annex ost was fab. :D Thanks for commenting on mine too.

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  12. eum sorry to disappoint you but your climate does receive most rain in the summer, not in the winter. The month with most rainfall in Belgium statiscially over the years is July and then August!! But it's supposed to be in big thunderstorms, so lots of rain concentrated on less days. We did not have an exceptional amount of rain this summer, but more days of rain than usual...and less sunshine.


    And due to the global warming our winters are starting to get wetter too :(

    depressing, very depressing

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  13. I just moved to Germany from Indonesia and not only am I wet but I am freaking freezing. This isn't summer it is more like winter in south Texas but green. I hope my sweaters show up soon. Brrrrr!

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  14. We've got the remnants of Tropical Storm Fran dumping on our vacation. The boys are now running full tilt through out the house as little lady chases the boys with a comb insisting on combing their hair.

    But to make the glass half full we're going to go surf fishing in the rain this afternoon. Might as well embrace the rain and have the beach to ourselves.

    Congrats on the Annex. That is awesome.

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  15. I've actually welcome the rain lately. It makes me feel less guilty about spending so much time indoors this summer. The summer after I had Julia was a lost season, too. Still, being outside is such a must - an obligation, for me. I feel like I've missed summer altogether!

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