Rubber on my feet!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ebt0BR5wHYs (This is a link to Eddie Rabbitt's song I Love A Rainy Night) Once you read further into today's blog post you'll realize why I posted the link! Enjoy!

Thanks to Wisconsin finally thawing out and shrugging off that stiff and constantly mildewed sweater of winter - albeit temporarily I'm afraid, but any allowance for breathing space is favorable right? - I was able to break out my rain boots for the last two days.

Now I love wearing my winter boots as much as the next girl, not to mention scarves. Oh, the scarves! But there is something about rain boots that ushers in tentative thoughts of...dare I say it? Warmer weather! Yes, I did it. I just mentioned the term warmer weather in the middle of February, at the tail end of a Wisconsin winter. Albeit since when has any Wisconsin winter paid any mind to when the calendar announces its end? Winter will invariably barrel right past March 21st like a drunk glancing casually up at the red stop light, pondering fleetingly upon its meaning, but then his mind is shoved ahead by that churning amber tidal wave, demanding it to pay that light no mind, it has no significance to you.

Okay, so the Wisconsin winter isn't a drunk, but sometimes I wonder if it doesn't get completely giddy on its own havoc as it swirls, drifts, buries, hisses up against windows, and layers upon the earth its own breath and fur. But perhaps once it has danced in its frozen rain and listened to its laughter lost amongst the howling, funneling winds...it steps back and observes the placid silence falling like an invisible thick coastal fog upon its glistening blanket, every sound is muffled beneath the layers, for a moment the world is unified, imperfections obscured, all roads whether dilapidated rural or sleek urban pathways are the same.

Well, didn't mean to jump on the metaphorical/imagination train there and just abandon what I was going to talk about: which is the joy wearing my rain boots gives me, and how rain in general is prominent in music and thus has an impact on my life. But then again, what did I expect to happen when I jump on the literary horse and let it guide me rather than vice versa? But again, like the Mustang pounding his half-circle imprints into the red, Nevada dust...my literary horse was meant to be unharnessed and free of impression and guide. After all, somehow I always end fairly close to my intended route, right? And just imagine if I did in fact harness this literary horse of mine, would I have ever found all of the magical and truly inspirational places I have stumbled upon in my wanderlust blog posts? I think not. There I go with the the rhetorical questions again. Perhaps I am more predictable than I thought. But can one be predictable in a random, completely unguided sort of way? Well, that's definitely not a rhetorical question is it?

Anyway, back to the glory of rain boots! A couple years ago I found myself having an itch to buy a pair. How said itch came to be is beyond me, but I am glad I acquired it because now I get to wear my rain boots to class! And yes, I do much enjoy the way the rubber flaps around my legs and causes people to look down as I walk by as if wondering "what's that strange, flapping sound"? And yes, I do intentionally hunt down each and every puddle, regardless of depth, size and location just so I can splash through it - modestly of course! After all, that's what rain boots are for, are they not? For my rain boots to never encounter water is like never bringing your dog to the beach when every time he glimpses it, whether it be on TV, in a sparkling photograph or even from his favorite window of the car his ears snap up and his slobbering lips curl into a smile.

But it's not just the excuse to splash through puddles that I wear my rain boots. I also wear them as a quirky fashion statement! You see, my rain boots are black with multi-colored dots on them, mostly light blue, red, orange, purple and light green. It doesn't matter if they match what clothes I'm wearing, if I feel like wearing them, I will. It also doesn't matter if they're quite awkward to walk up the daily dose of stairs I encounter on my way to class, albeit I'll admit that is a trifle annoying. But...I need the exercise anyway right?

Speaking of fashion statements, it's funny how come spring time each of us embraces fashion choices that winter forced out of our closets in it's usual brazen, ignorant matter. Now, seemingly we're all itching to wear those blue tights with gray-tweed Bermuda shorts, and cut-out black tights with butt-length t-shirt and beat-up combat boots. Both outfits, by the way, I have seen on two girls that sit in front of me in one of my English classes. The girl with the combat boots is especially interesting, she never disappoints me with her outfits. Every Tuesday and Thursday I wait to see what she will wear. And albeit I don't think I'd wear such outfits as she does unless I decided to transition to Side B of me, but I admire her taste in fashion nonetheless. For standing out in the crowd, for embracing her own Side B.

And perhaps my choice to wear my floppy rain boots to class is my own small way of embracing my Side B. After all, like I've established before when going more in depth into this whole Side B concept, that I am in fact too reserved and conscious of myself to ever fully embrace totally the outfits I have conjured up in my mind for that dusty, rarely played side of the tape. But thankfully there are enigmatic, eclectic and any other 'e' word you can think of characters to provide an outlet for this Side B of me and thus she can play herself on the tape deck again and again every time I had another chapter to a story, or put pen to paper another story thought forming a solid fog from mere wisps of leftover morning dew in my mind.

And there's the writing metaphor! I guess one can be predictable in a no-boundaries sort of way. Well, they say you learn something new every day right?

Well, I must say, it feels good to talk about clothes again, and rain boots, and Side B of me, and of course writing and such. I feel like no matter how scatterbrained each blog post may be there are always minute connective fibers running through them all. After all, I just managed to reference several past blog posts today didn't I? To end today's post, I'll see if I can't post a favorite Eddie Rabbitt tune of mine called I Love A Rainy Night. One night while perusing YouTube one of those rare and odd sparks ignited in my brain like an old flickering light bulb finally exploding in some dim, rarely trod corridor in the back of my mind and it illuminated and equally dusty and rusted-out filing cabinet that was labeled...forgotten, favorite songs. Kind of an oxymoron don't you think? How can a song be forgotten when it's a favorite? Well folks, unfortunately it happens on my iPod all the time.

So anyway, that was just a typical rambling way of me saying I'd completely forgotten about Eddie Rabbitt's awesome song until roughly a month ago and now every time I'm on YouTube I listen to. Give it a listen and maybe you'll understand why. I feel it sums up partially how I feel about rain and how it makes me feel. I hope listening to this song puts you in the middle of a rainy night, and you find yourself tapping along, or maybe even singing!