Writing about my wet jeans reminded me of another British rain story. This one was a lot more fun.
A wonderful couple who had befriended me asked if I wanted to go see the Anne Boleyn family residence.
Did they know me well or what? History, in a land that truly had it. I lived in a building built before the US Civil War, and that was considered new in the town where I lived. Considering there was a building a short walk away that was mentioned in the Doomsday Book, I guess my building was relatively new.
The morning of our outing, it was raining. I called them up to see if we were still going. “Why wouldn’t we be?”
On the trip out to the estate, I explained to them that in my part of my country, we are fair weather people. Events are often canceled due to weather. The woman glanced back at me with a look of disbelief saying, “If we did that here, we’d never leave the house!”
When we got to the site, we were so pleased to see that there were reenactors doing some immensely complicated court dances, plus there was a falconer!
Inside the house was an entire exhibit on Henry VIII’s collection of wives. A show had recently aired on BBC describing the six women. As we went through the exhibit, I was able to play tour guide providing my British native hosts with a lot more information than the little placards outlined. Even the other people in line found it odd that a woman with such a strong American accent was educating them on their history.
It was such a wonderful day: I learned that there is no British rain out rule, I got to teach people, and I was steeped in history. Plus the rain stopped before we arrived. What a perfect-for-me day!
Are you a fair weather person when it comes to outside activities? or What age of house is considered “old” where you live?
Grown Up, Now What? 
I love that response you got: “If we did that here, we’d never leave the house!”. That made me laugh a little. Not only that, but I love that attitude. I’ve known people who will cancel things when the weather turns just slightly worse. I don’t usually care about the weather. If it’s raining a little, it’s not that big a deal. I’ll still go.
I remember when I was in Ireland. I forgot my umbrella in the car and, of course, the rain came. And it drenched down, but I persevered. I kept going and at the end of the day was soaked. But I wasn’t going to let it ruin my experience.
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Growing up my mom taught me that I wasn’t made of sugar so I wouldn’t melt in the rain. That mindset served me very well in England.
Good for you for not letting the rain ruin your experience in Ireland. I have found that when it is raining that hard, it’s normally accompanied by wind, so umbrellas are useless.
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I love a good rainy day. Some things have to be scrapped for weather…I woukd not take Kidzilla to an all day amusement park or on a hike in steady rain, for exampke. But a little rain or cloudy skies? Who cares! Get out and go! Your outing sounds awesome…I would love that!
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I remember playing in the backyard in the rain. But for the most part my mom was a lot like you in not taking me out for grand adventures in a storm. It’s fun being a grown up and being able to decide for myself!
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Well we’ve been spending time in Oregon so I’m learning not to be – because here in the northwest, same thing probably as in England – if you stayed in or cancelled things because of rain, you’d never go out or get anything done. I’m learning to “feel the rain” rather than just get wet.
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I love the concept of “feeling the rain”. What a wonderful twist of perception. I will have to remember that if I’m ever someplace where it rains!
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I am a total fair weather person. If it’s raining we don’t go. Period. And old here is like revolutionary war time. I love that you knew all those facts about the King Henry wives!
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Being back in the land where rain is an oddity, I’m slipping back into my “rained out” mindset. I have sunshine 350+ days a year: I can pick one of those to go out!
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