....GETTING CAUGHT IN THE RAIN....

We have been waiting for rain for months and months. People had been getting quite depressed about it all being so hot and so dry for so long. Now we have moved into autumn, everything is softer and cooler and the rain and mist blow gently across the landscape. When the sun comes out the water droplets sparkle on the leaves and the air smells fresh and clean.

The clouds were black out on the horizon, as I approached the beach today, but I didn't think it would come to much - it rarely does at Henley beach, so I took my mother's dog for the usual walk and left my jacket in the car.Not a soul could be seen up and down the beach, for many miles - perfect - we had the place entirely to ourselves. To the north the sun shone briefly and blindingly on the Henley jetty and on a few old blokes out doing a bit of fishing off the end. To the south, black clouds gathered, and the sea took on a steel grey glint. There was no wind but the swell that had built up over the last few days rolled steadily in and broke erratically on the shore.

About 20 minutes into the walk I sat on the beach to watch the bird life which had gathered where a creek flows out into the sea. It has been a long time since this creek had flowed enough to reach the sea as more than a tiny trickle and there were gulls, terns, pelicans, pigeons and other small seabirds fossicking about in the moving fresh water, feeding, while others were having a hearty fresh-water wash. It was so peaceful and hard to believe that I was only 10 minutes drive from the city centre. A soft breeze floated by and carried with it some misty rain - a wonderful feeling on my face and arms. As I rallied my thoughts and began the walk back towards the car the rain came down a little stronger and I thought of that song about the bloke who discovers things about his wife that he never knew before, when he answers her ad in the paper....

"If you like Pina Colada, and getting caught in the rain.
If you're not into yoga, if you have half-a-brain.
If you like making love at midnight, in the dunes of the cape.
I'm the lady you've looked for, write to me, and escape."

It's a great song and as I know it pretty much off by heart, and there was no-one around, I wanted to sing it out loud, walking there in the rain on the beach because it is quirky and fun and the rain felt wonderful. I am the world's worst singer, so I sang it inside my head where it always sounds much better! My sunglasses were all wet and my hair was dripping and, as I walked along in the water with my pants rolled up and my jumper tied around my waist, I honestly felt like a teenager.


Life is good. Get there fast and then take it slow. (Oh no, another song! I could go on and on...)

It's not always fine in the Whitsundays (Queensland 2005)! 40knot tail wind and going 8 knots with no main and only a tiny bit of jib up. See the smile? I was as wet as anything from the rain and the waves that kept hitting me in the face. The sunglasses are to keep the rain and sea water out of my eyes!

Escape
(Rupert Holmes)

I was tired of my lady, we'd been together too long.
Like a worn-out recording, of a favorite song.
So while she lay there sleeping, I read the paper in bed.
And in the personals column, there was this letter I read:

"If you like Pina Coladas, and getting caught in the rain.
If you're not into yoga, if you have half-a-brain.
If you like making love at midnight, in the dunes of the cape.
I'm the lady you've looked for, write to me, and escape."

I didn't think about my lady, I know that sounds kind of mean.
But me and my old lady, had fallen into the same old dull routine.
So I wrote to the paper, took out a personal ad.
And though I'm nobody's poet, I thought it wasn't half-bad.

"Yes, I like Pina Coladas, and getting caught in the rain.
I'm not much into health food, I am into champagne.
I've got to meet you by tomorrow noon, and cut through all this red tape.
At a bar called O'Malley's, where we'll plan our escape."

So I waited with high hopes, then she walked in the place.
I knew her smile in an instant, I knew the curve of her face.
It was my own lovely lady, and she said, "Oh, it's you."
And we laughed for a moment, and I said, "I never knew"..

"That you liked Pina Coladas, and getting caught in the rain.
And the feel of the ocean, and the taste of champagne.
If you like making love at midnight, in the dunes of the cape.
You're the love that I've looked for, come with me, and escape."

"If you like Pina Coladas, and getting caught in the rain.
If you're not into yoga, if you have half-a-brain.
If you like making love at midnight, in the dunes of the cape.
You're the love that I've looked for, come with me, and escape."