Rain does not stop play

As our boiler is now very spasmodic in its working (thanks b/f) I decided to take Tommy out on a long one last Thursday evening. There was no point staying in, as it was as cold in the house as it was out. It was only slightly raining, but nowhere near enough to keep me in.

I had been meaning to go down the seafront to have a look at how ‘City Beach’ is developing – I saw some pictures in the paper about the Lighting masts and I wanted to see how they have changed the feel of the seafront. So that’s where we went.

Five minutes into the walk and the rain started to get heavier. The wind also decided to show its colours and was thrashing the rain into my face. Tommy was still very much nose to the ground, more smells, maybe food and I’m out the house – hurrah!

We got to the seafront and the rain got heavier. I moved up a gear and Tommy didn’t seem to mind the faster pace. The masts weren’t obvious to see, with my hood up, face down against the rain with a bit of a march on. The pavement seemed to be more broken and cut up the further we walked (all I could see with my head down!), which was a bit depressing… and then I came to a barrier. And then I saw my first Lighting mast. They are big. Very big. And if the ‘Better Southend’ web site is to be believed will definitely be ‘a centrepiece of the project, helping to extend the day into the evening’. How long till they are vandalised is another question. And how I had walked past two of them makes me believe that they will not stand out too much against the rest of the seafront.

We crossed the road and carried on past the arcades. Tommy constantly sniffing for a dropped chip, or if hes lucky, a bit of saveloy. The seafront was pretty much deserted, but Tommy still enjoyed nosing through the windows at the arcades. The noises coming from them, as well as the lights, bring out his curious side.

The rain started to ease off as we carried on up Pier Hill. Tommy looked completely surprised when we came to the Royals. He looked at me as if to say ‘we’re here! But this is morning walk. Can we go straight home…I’m very wet’. No Tommy. We’re off up the High Street as I need to get milk. Past the Royals and we were just about to turn off when Tommy spotted a balloon. I was going to tell him to leave it so we could carry on but then I thought, the rain has almost stopped. Why not play! I picked the balloon up and for about 10 minutes, Tommy and I were playing with the balloon, in the high street, outside Costa. A few of the customers were looking out very amused, especially when the rain started to come down harder again. Rain did not stop play. The balloon must have been made from some super strength rubber because even with Tommy trying to kill it, me picking it up (and maybe squeezing it a little too hard), being bounced off benches and posts, the thing didn’t burst. Most of the people walking past looked at me like I was mad, some of them smiled, a couple even kicked the balloon back towards the center of the High Street. Still it would not burst and the rain continued to come down.

It was at least another 15 minutes before the balloon burst. I had to pick it up to move it away from the road. When I put it down, it burst. A couple of the people in Costa looked sad that the balloon had gone. It must have broke their day up seeing a happy JRT, playing with a balloon in the rain, in the High Street. It certainly cheered my day up!