The Day is Cold and Dark and Dreary

The day is cold and dark and dreary,
It rains and the wind is never weary.

These dark words form the opening line from the poem The Rainy Day written by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. I became very familiar with this poem when I was in high school. Unfortunately today, These words are also a very fitting description of my tragic work conditions. During my first funeral today, the sky opened and a barrage of rain began to attack just as we were getting out of the car and walking toward the graveside.

Despite the weather, I am still having a great day! Last Monday, I locked two high ranking officers outside for about ten minutes in the freezing cold! You can read about that by reading A Bad Case of the Mondays. Last Friday, it rained all day and it was about twenty degrees colder than it is today. Today isn't really that bad.

Also, I just had a great weekend. The weather on Saturday and Sunday was in the fifties and the sun was shining. On Saturday afternoon, a friend and I went running on a trail that overlooks the Potomac River. It was a very enjoyable run. I love running and have actually been running quite a bit lately trying to get into better shape. I was up and running on my treadmill at about 5:40 this morning.

Whenever it rains like this, I am reminded of the first time my wife ever flew. I had already flown several times. In fact, at this point I had jumped out of as many airplanes as I had landed with. She was really nervous and the weather wasn't helping. It was dark and foggy. The rain was coming down just a little bit off and on. It was a dark day. When we lifted off, I could tell that my wife was a little nervous. Immediately after liftoff, we began the climb to our cruising altitude. After only about a minute of climbing, we began pushing up through thick clouds. Literally, I am guessing that we could only see about fifty feet in front of us. Then suddenly, we reached the top of the clouds and pushed into an area of the sky that was completely clear. My wife was watching out the window this whole time. She looked down at the blanket of clouds below us and the sun shining above us and her face just lit up. "That's really neat!" She said. So now, I always remember that the sun is shining up above the clouds!

Be still, sad heart! and cease repining;
Behind the clouds is the sun still shining;
Thy fate is the common fate of all,
Into each life some rain must fall,
Some days must be dark and dreary.