POLLYANNA'S POOL DAY

I finally get a chance to see my gal pals.  Between our work and medical schedules, today is the day!  The sky looks pretty good, too -- mostly blue with some white puffs of clouds.  I get in my car to run a couple of errands before I am set to arrive at one friend's house.  I have to go to the bank, and I want to get the car washed.

Like Pollyanna, I have high hopes for a wonderful day.  I am wearing my bathing suit under a black knit pullover dress, and I also have a change of clothes because I should stop at the grocery store on the way home to buy hamburg buns for a quick grilled dinner with my kiddo later.

I am looking forward to floating around the pool while sipping wine and laughing with my friends. In other words, I am ready.  I am sooooo ready.  Everything is packed.  All I have to do now is hit the bank and the car wash.

I finish my business at the bank and come out to my car.  Work buddies are blowing up a group text.  I'll check it later.  I still have the car wash on my list, so I back out of my space, start heading toward the traffic light, and ...

Hmmmmm.  That sky looks a little dicey.  I think I'll skip the car wash.

I am the last to arrive at the party, but I arrive right on time, exactly at 11 a.m.  We start munching on crackers and cheese and fruit and then move on to guac and chips and mini cheesecake bites.  And wine.  Yes, we move on to wine.

The pool!  The sun!  The day!

At this point, the sky directly above us is still mostly blue.  The sky north and south of us?  Not so much.  "Go away," I command the nasty clouds in the distance.  "You will NOT ruin my day!"

I decide to check the local radar on my phone, and I should probably check the 28 work texts.

Oh, I forgot.  This neighborhood is notorious for poor cell reception and ineffective internet service.  I could hop on my pal's wifi, but I still have two bars on my own service.  It may take an extra minute or two or three, but I still can check the weather patterns.

No storms on the immediate horizon but plenty of weather action to the north near Manchester, to the west near Lowell, and to the south near Billerica.  Here, my good readers, is where the story turns into a picture book.  Enjoy.

Forty minutes at the pool, and then ... Uh-oh.  Here comes the rain.

Holy crap.  It's a deluge.

I'm not going out there.  You going out there?  I'm not going out there.

Oh, crap.  There's my black knit dress: Outside, on the fence, in the rain.  I'm not going out there until this stops.  It does, eventually.  The sun comes out again, but I have to change into my spare clothes.  No way am I entering the grocery store in a sopping wet dress.

Joke's on me.  It starts to rain a little when I get to the store, so I run, intending to buy hamburger buns for a quick grilled dinner.  Instead, I check the radar, decide grilling is not in my immediate future, grab soft tacos, and manage to get into my car right as the skies open up again. 

When all is said and done, we have a hilarious time at our pool-non-pool party, our cell phones don't bother us because of limited service, I do actually have dry clothes, and, (drum roll) best of all:  I did NOT wash my car before this all happens, so no one can blame it on me.