Malingering in the Rain
Eight of us are on a family vacation in Portugal. I’d like to say that we are “enjoying” and not just “on,” a vacation, but it’s been cold and rainy and it would be a stretch to say we’re enjoying ourselves.
Before we left, Daveen consistently checked the weather forecast for Porto and reported rain. Every day.
I’m an optimist by nature and assured her that the rainy season would probably be over by the time we arrived. Also, I have a reputation for conjuring good weather, and the sky always brightens when I travel somewhere. Sadly, in this case I was doubly wrong, and that doesn’t bring a smile to any of our eight faces.
Even so, I’ve made the best of it. I’ve read a few books (I highly recommend “Wild” by Cheryl Strayed) and stayed out of the rain as much as possible. Fortunately, I brought tennis shoes, which I needed when my other shoes got soaked and took two days to dry out.
As I write this, it’s Saturday morning on the 5th day of a week-long cruise, and while most of the others are inspecting a palace and shopping in town, I’m happily dry in our stateroom on the river boat, looking forward to a modest lunch at 1:00 pm when they return.
I must also share that, unexpectedly for me, this is a wine cruise (Porto — port wine.), and I don’t drink wine. While most of our 90 or so fellow travelers are enjoying the two or three wine tastings every day, I’m teetotaling my way through the featured events. I couldn’t tell the difference between a wine’s “nose,” whatever that is, and its “tawnyness,” whatever that is, nor do I care to find out.
But I’ve enjoyed getting to know three of my grandsons better, and have taken pleasure in Daveen’s laughter whenever I offer a snarky comment about the last winery tour we suffered through.
In a few days we will leave the riverboat at 5:00 am for a 4-hour bus trip back to civilization, and two long airplane rides that will convey us to Austin, Texas where we look forward to a total solar eclipse. No rain forecast there. Just clouds. Well, I suppose we can view the eclipse on CNN, as we did thirty-three years ago in Hawaii.
Of course, as far as I’m concerned, the best part of every trip is walking into my bedroom at home where it is always warm and never wet.
I offer a wine-less toast to our return in two weeks to sunny Southern California.
Alan