Rainy Days and Blanket Forts
Limited only by Active Imaginations
I woke up this morning to the sound of rain and I listened to the wind teasing my wind chimes outside. I love that sound and I’m always awed by the cozy feeling rain brings.
Hours later, the peaceful feeling was still with me, as the rain invited me to remember ...
Growing up, there were six children in our house and like most large families, there was never a dull moment. It was raining and someone said, “Let’s go to the basement and build a blanket fort!” We all agreed.
First we raided the linen closet. Arms loaded with blankets and sheets, we headed down the basement stairs. We weaved heavy twine and rope back and forth, from one wall to the one across from it. Then we draped our sheets and blankets over the lines so each of us had our own living quarters.
Next we borrowed Mama’s vacuum cleaner hose for a telephone. We knew it would leave a perfect black circle of dirt around our mouths, but we didn’t care. We would just look at each other and laugh, as always.
Like most creative projects, most of the fun was in the actual creation, which took all day. Clean-up was something we put off, until mom got after us with threats of no TV till it was cleaned up.
The days I remember best are those sweet, sweet days that were as long then as twenty days are now. We had such a great time just being kids.
Could be, that's why I still drag my feet on growing up ...
CJ’s World is reader supported. If you
enjoy my writing and you are able,
consider a paid subscription so
I can keep writing for you.
Thank you.
I, too, love the rain and it has to go on for many days before I begin to tire of it. Living out here in our drought-stricken valley, I never get enough. There are a lot of secret places I like to huddle down in when it rains but one of my top favorites is in the car with hubby driving. It feels so cloistered and intimate with the smeared watercolors of the outside world dripping in rivulets down the side windows, the washed-and-wiped view through the windshield with the wipers making their rhythmic sound against the wet glass, fighting a losing battle: "YAY RAIN!" while drowning out the sounds of traffic except for an occasional splash from a puddle hitting us broadside, and the sound of rain pelting the roof above rivaling the metallic drum-tap on a tin awning for award-winning atmospherics. I am a big lover of atmosphere in all its many forms and rain provides the very best. Thanks for opening a window into your rainy-day childhood fantasy world and letting me climb inside!
I love being present with the rain. It's either the time for me to head outside since it's when the parks and woodlands tend to be most deserted, or just quiet inside listening. Thank you for this piece, I enjoyed being transported back to these memories of childhood with you.