Puddles

“There’s a big one, go get it!” the mom gently suggested to her little boy. He was about four years old and was wearing shiny, new rubber rain boots. He headed for a big puddle and splish splashed through it, a huge grin on his face.

“How do they work?” his mom asked.

I spotted this duo as I was leaving a school at the end of the day. They were checking out all the puddles in the school parking lot while waiting for an older sibling. What an excellent pursuit!

Springtime is puddle time. This year promises to have a bumper crop. When I looked out my kitchen window the other day, Lake Dennis had appeared in the field across the road. Our good neighbor, Dennis, owns the field and gets an ephemeral lake each spring in a low spot. One year the gigantic puddle lasted so long that it acquired a resident pair of ducks. This year it could host a flock.

We have puddles as well. The plow guy created a story high mountain of snow at the end of our downward sloping driveway. Now that the temperatures finally are inching above freezing, I asked my husband if we might possibly need a few sandbags, a dike or an ark. The ark idea was quickly dismissed as our resident cats (mostly toms) would never peacefully go two by two up the ramp.

My husband choose a different solution. He emulated the Netherlands and has dug little canals to contain and control the direction of the melt. This system is not yet perfect, but the water has been diverted from running into the garage.

E.E. Cummings described the springtime world as “mud-luscious” and “puddle-wonderful”. We should all go out and stomp around a bit. By August we may be in the clutches of drought with puddles merely memories.

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4 thoughts on “Puddles”

  1. Puddles are good. We went to the beach 3 weeks ago and it snowed and rained. Since we were there on a Monday in April AND it was raining, and cold. It was virtually deserted. Keaton and i walked 25 blocks to the only open arcade with skee ball. We had smiles, puddles and ocean view all the way. I packed my boots and Keaton’s rubber rain boots, so we decided it was made-to-order beach weather. Anna Kate and Mom stayed at the inside pool, which was deserted too…perfect.

    The rain makes for a private version of most everything wonderful…just pack your boots.

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  2. Love this, Mary!! Reminds me of when I was in the lower grades – I walked home for lunch and a couple of times when all the little “canals” (not man-made) were running I would get home so late for lunch I would barely have time to eat and get back to school. My mother would be frantic and I was also sopping wet!! How I remember that wonderful smell of the spring mud! As soon as there was enough grass showing we would be playing marbles!! My mom made me a marble bag and WHAT an amazing collection I had!!

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