It's raining, it's pouring.
Oh dear. I suspect I've committed a rather serious faux pas.
Last night, as I walked from my car to my house, I chanced upon a neighbor. Following the traditional unintelligible grunts of greeting my neighbor chose to assert his national identity by following-up with the comment:
"Miserable weather."
For it just so happened that it was raining. Without thinking I responded:
No, not really. I like the rain.
Which is utterly true. In my opinion there's no such thing as good or bad weather, just inappropriate clothing. However as I live in a country where the attitude to the weather is so deeply entrenched in the national psyche that it's possible to get arrested for wearing the wrong kind of coat I suspect I actually offended my neighbor deeply.
But no matter how hard I try I can't conceive of rain being miserable. Rain is wonderful. It's positive, it's uplifting, it totally opposite to miserable. True, thunderstorms have more of an emotional impact. But nothing compares to standing outside - wearing the appropriate clothing - in the rain. Indeed, on occasions the wearing inappropriate clothing enhances the experience.
I have to wonder if the misery of which my neighbor spoke is not his own. Perhaps he needs to stand outside in the rain and let a thorough soaking wash his misery away. Perhaps he simply can't let go of his misery, and it's easier to blame the rain and hope that one day of sunny weather on an unspecified day the future will make it all better.
Yet he's not the only miserable person I've detected. Miserable seems to be what most people are doing at the moment. Perhaps the philosophical leanings which I ascribe to the Autumnal Equinox are not restricted to me. Perhaps the whole of society feels the same. It's just that everyone else is resorting to inane conversation about the weather to overcome the inertia of a brain that wants to stop and think. But if all you think about is misery, misery is all you'll see. Especially if you're in a philosophical mood.
So next time it rains don the appropriate clothing and pop outside - or if you can't wait for rain then close your eyes when next in the shower and pretend you're outside in the rain. Think about the droplets of water carrying away all that ails your spirit. If you get your belief right I guarantee you will feel better.