It has been raining in Chattanooga for a month. And not just here and there. Big rain. Rain coat rain. 'It looks like the Amazon in my backyard' kind of rain. 'Be careful not to get depressed' kind of rain.
It's raining a lot.
We are sitting in our living room about a week ago with Shepherd. Hope noticed a girl, probably fourteen or fifteen, walking down the street with nothing covering her from the rain but a fleece hoodie. It does not take a very an REI employee to know that fleece is not what you would call 'rain gear.' Hope told me that she had just bought an umbrella and wanted me to take it to her.
I walked through the house looking for shoes. Hope told me to hurry. So I threw on a pair of flip flops and ran outside with jeans, flip flops, and a white t-shirt that had shrunk a little too much to be wearing in public. I was halfway to the street when I realized how far down the road the girl was. I took off running and yelling at the girl. As I ran, I accidentally pushed the umbrella extend button.
I had not really thought about how to get her attention. So I just started yelling whatever came to my mind. "Hey you!" I blurted out first. I saw her look over her shoulder with concern. "Hey, come back here!" I yelled, waving the umbrella above my head. She picked up the pace. "Stop!!!" She started to jog briskly. Because I don't jog, I walked faster.
It hit me. This kid had an overweight, seemingly angry man running after her with what probably looked like a club of some sort.
I finally yelled, " I'm not going to hurt you! I want to give you an umbrella!" She was almost out of sight. I turned around to walk back to my house. In that instant, I heard a voice from up the road asking loudly, "What kind is it?"
It took a whole lot for me not to reply, 'The kind that keeps you dry!'
