Rainy Day

It’s a rainy day. Rainy days make me want to hide out in my pajamas and comfort eat casserole.

Ever the good midwestern girl, I love a good casserole. Tuna Noodle. Turkey Noodle. Beef Stroganoff (not technically a casserole but we’ll go with it). A good hot dish on a cool, rainy day is my platonic ideal.

Alas, we live in Texas so despite the rain – it’s about 90 degrees.

Despite my inclination to crank up the AC and pretend its a good day for a sweater, I don’t actually get to hide out as much as I would like.

Must go meet with the estate planning attorney to get our will revised.

Plus, must get food to feed the children and the giant dog (who motors through a 60 pound bag of dog food in a scary short time frame).

As adults with kids and jobs and responsibilities, we don’t get to hide out anymore the way I might have in college.

A Dartmouth fall. There was a thing to behold – though I didn’t actually have a kitchen to prepare a casserole in on any of the three falls I was on campus. Dartmouth fall was all changing leaves and buses of tourists collecting moments of true New England college life to take home with them.

Rainy days make me think about the past and the future, despite my want to stay present, there’s something about a rainy day that encourages deep thoughts and dreaming.

So today I find myself thinking about retirement. As we near (and pass) 40 years old and our kids near (and enter) middle school, we’ve found our attention turning more and more to what comes next. What comes after. Where do we even want to be.

I have no idea, actually. But on a rainy day, I’m reasonably certain I want to be somewhere with a real fall.