I wake up to the constant drone of my phone’s alarm clock just like any other day. After getting up, the first thing I do is start my computer up. While waiting for my pc to start up I go into the kitchen to scrounge something up to eat, which is usually toast, a bagel, or cereal. After I’ve put what I want together for breakfast, I sit down at my computer to say good morning to the world. Facebook, Weather Channel, and Yahoo are all open within seconds of me sitting down to my computer. It’s only now that I realize that it sounds like its raining outside. Sliding back in my computer chair I peek out the blinds to see it coming down. GREAT, its bloody raining cats and dogs. Not literally, but you get the point that it sucks. Immediately I open the page that has the weather channel to get the current weather. (I know what you’re thinking, you just looked outside, silly. Well, it could get better or worse and theres no way to tell if its warm or cold out.) Typing in the area code, 61761, I hit [Enter] only to cringe at the temperature and radar map. Rain, cold, and not looking to get better any time soon. Shit…
I finish eating my bowl of cereal, jump in the shower, and get dressed for the day. I add my heavy leather jacket to my attire for warmth and rain repellent. While walking down my stairs to my door I keep a positive thought, that maybe, just maybe, the rain might have paused so that I can walk to class without getting soaked. I unlock my door and open it to see it coming down even harder than before. If I dont leave now I will most likely be late for class. Locking my door behind me, I say “fucking rain” aloud and turn to take my first step into the down pour. I put my hood from my hoody up over my head and baseball cap and step forward. Cold rain still manages to peck at my face here and there, even with my hoody and cap on. I never take the same way to school twice in the same day, just a habit from being in the Coast Guard and never doing something that a person can follow.
Today I choose to cut across a neighboring aparment’s lawn onto a street that leads me to Linden. The south side of the street doesnt have a side walk, so I cut across the street onto the side walk on the north side. Abouth three-quarters down the side walk, I notice something on the sidewalk. Its an insect for sure, but its plump and white and moving very slowly. Its a fat little grub! Looking down, I take extra caution to step over the first grub that I’d seen in years. While looking down I realized that my pants were already getting soaked on my thy’s and I still had a ways to go to get to campus. With this realization, my body registers that my legs are getting wet and cold. Thanks mister grub, now I realize that I’m cold and wet. Whereas before I was just walking and thinking to myself, ignoring any physical aliment. Turning onto Linden I check both ways for a break in traffic, none soon.
So, I continue down Linden towards campus. I pass over a bridge with a small creek, which is now flowing like a small river. Thinking to myself, “I wonder if I threw a inner tube in here, could I float down this stream, right out of town and into a bigger river?”. Then another rain drop hits my face, stinging the thought right out of my mind with it’s bitter coldness. I check traffic again and cross imediately, pausing in the middle for a car that seemed like it was in a bigger hurry then me. The car gave off a mist as it went by, nothing that would normally of hit me if I were on the side walk, but I wasnt. Walking through the car’s mist I finally make it to the other side of the road, challenge one complete. The only other challenge is making it across Vernon street and I dont like waiting at stop lights to cross.
A short stride later I’m coming up to the corner of Linden and Vernon, where two girls have taken up residence with their huge umbrellas. Neither of them notice me and force me to step out onto the street, I think to myself, “thanks twats” as I walk past. At least I hope it was only to myself, but I have been wrong before. Peaking on top of a hill on Vernon, I notice a time for me to cross and take it. Gotta love it when usual challenges are easy to surpass. Zigzaging my way through the side streets, I finaly reach campus. My first class is in Stevenson Hall, which just happens to be the closest building for me to walk to. I take the back door, cause I’m that kind of guy *wink*, and step out of the rain into a heated building. I take my hood down and take a deep breath. I made it, cold and wet.
