“Rainy Days and Mondays Always Get Me Down”

Rainy Days and Mondays Always Get Me Down ~ Karen Carpenter

by Bonnie Horibata

It’s Mother’s Day and we are all cuddled in the living room watching and listening to the rain, thunder and lightning. A little part of me is annoyed because we are cancelling our plans to eat out at a new restaurant; but we enjoy the delivery pizza because we are together on this special day.

It’s Monday morning and I’m standing in the front of the office front door struggling with my key, listening to Chloe our office dog barking at me saying, “Come in already and give me a treat”. I can’t because the front door is jammed because of the swollen wood from the rains.  Argh!!!! I mutter, as I dial Andrew’s mobile.  He can’t help because he is in Dongguan…. grrrrr, a 2^nd growl escapes my lips. Tracy arrives and she gets the door open.  “How is that?”  Perhaps, it’s because she has a lot more patience than I.  a 3^rd growl is simmering in my back throat. “Grrrrrr”

I’m now sitting at my desk, pondering on which project I need to work on today; while random thoughts are floating around in my head.  “Hmmmmm should have rained like this on Saturday so we wouldn’t feel bad for postponing the event.”  “hmmmmm; Everlyn, Captivating’s Project Manager from Kenya is arriving soon, and look at the mess in our office with all the event t-shirts and gear stacked up high”  “hmmmm when can I get away to buy my cup of coffee…”

And then, Andrew walks into the office with a big smile on his face, “I’m home – how are you ladies”. He reminds me of Ricky Ricardo in the “I Love Lucy” oldies but goodies television shows from the 50’s.

We share with him our rain and thunder stories and then he shares with us that he slept on a hard floor in a church because the police had to evacuate all the residents of Project Eden and neighbouring homes because of the floods. “We all had minutes to pack up and store items as high as we could before seeking refuge at a nearby church”, said Andrew. We asked him how Project Eden survived the floods; but, unfortunately, many items, furniture, and appliances were damaged. They are currently assessing the damages and the clean-up process.

Hopefully, we will receive positive news from Dongguan, soon. In the meantime, we all pray that their burden is light and their recovery is swift. As for me, I’m not growling anymore today. I feel blessed.