Outrageous!!

Who wears lime green boots?  Who spends hours acting out stories with GI Joe action figures and Barbie Dolls?  Who enjoys the experience of wadding through mud puddles?  Sound a little crazy?  It is definitely out of the ordinary and unpredictable.    Doing something outrageous was fun and has created great memories for me.

As the rain pelted down, Hannah and I dashed into the 4-H Extension Office one rainy late summer afternoon.  Shaking water off of ourselves we heard, “Where did you get those bright, lime green boots?  Those boots look like they could be 4-H boots!” a 4-H leader and friend asks.  Smiling Hannah says, “Yep, it is the reason I chose this color for my boots!”  We all laughed together.  Wearing dark blue jeans and green 4-H T-shirt with green boots to set her attire off, Hannah beamed with green.  At that moment more 4-H friends entered the Extension Office commenting on her boots. 

After taking care of business, we left the office where a huge puddle of water had formed in the parking lot.  What did Hannah do?  What is the most obvious and fun activity to do after a nice rain?  Yes, wade directly through the middle of the puddle.  “See this is another purpose for wearing my boots, today!” she exclaims with glee.  She and her friends laugh more.

This little incident brought back a memory from my past.  I was 7 years old.  Watching the sky become dark and a cloudburst of rain hit the ground, my brother and I were excited.  We played with GI Joe action figures and Barbie dolls pretending all sorts of scenarios with the loud and stormy weather.  The rain and the play occurred for hours until finally the rain stopped and the sun burst forth in its brilliance.  Looking out the window, I said, “Look at that huge puddle in the driveway!”  “Wow!” exclaimed my brother.  “Wouldn’t that be fun to wade through?  Let’s go ask Dad and Mom.”

Running through the house we found our Dad and Mom in the family room reading the Sunday newspaper.  “Dad, Mom, can we go outside to walk around and to walk through mud puddles?” I asked.  Our mom distractedly replied, “Sure.”  We scurried to retrieve our rubber boots. 

Running out the back door, we laughed with glee.  We, first, walked through the front and back yard observing how beautiful and greener the plants were.  We waded through small puddles gradually working our way up to wading through bigger and bigger puddles.  We arrived facing the huge puddle.  “Wow, I wonder how deep this one is?” asked my brother pointing to the enormous puddle.  “I don’t know, but I am going to find out.  Let’s go.”  We slowly waded through.  Each step we took lowered us a little deeper into the muddy water.  Each step splashed dirty water on us.  The water was up to the tops of our knee high boots.  We just kept walking back and forth in the puddle and splattering muddy water all over us.  “I love it!” my brother exclaimed.  We laughed and laughed, while whooshing back and forth. 

At that moment we heard our mother’s frustrated voice in the screen window.  “Bill, just look at our kids out there in the mud puddle!  They are covered in mud from head to toe!”  I looked at my brother.  I looked at myself.  I had not realized just how much dirt we splashed on ourselves!  “You kids get yourselves in here right now!” ordered our mother.  Our mother met us at the back door.  She asked, “What were you doing?  What were you thinking?”  I said, “We asked you if we could wade in puddles.  Remember?”  My mother replied, “Yes, but I didn’t think you would get so dirty.  I didn’t say you could do that!”

We were in a little bit of trouble; however, it was worth it.  What kid, young or old, can resist wading through puddles?  It had been a great rainy day for us indoors and outdoors.