I said it before, and I'm saying it again now

I love walking in the woods in the rain.

It's been raining here in Boston for about two days now. Morning temperatures are typically in the low 40s, Fahrenheit.

Yesterday I put on a pair of shorts, a Gore-Tex shell, and an old felt hat and set out on what I call the 'short long walk'. There is are approximately 500 acres of conservation land just south of my house, and there are many different possible trail journeys. But in essence, there's the northern loop complex and the southern loop complex. The two complexes are connected by a single trail that runs through a big wetland. The 'short long' walk involves making it all the way to the southern loop complex, but taking a short path once there. (The 'short short' is a short path just in the northern complex, the 'long short' is a long path in the northern complex, and a 'long long' is... well, you get the idea.)

It was about an hour and half walk, probably 5 or 6 miles, of pure bliss. The sound of the rain on last fall's fallen leaves, the sheen of the water on the trunk of an enormous silver beech, the squish of mud under my feet.

The sound of the rain is like a blanket around you when you walk. You can't year the distant sounds of traffic, or construction, or airplanes. It is as if you have the world to yourself.