Rainy Days in Tochigi

It's raining today, started last night and has kept going with ever increasing intensity. Usually I ride my bike the short 5 minute journey to work. It's great 'cause I absolutely hate getting up early. Total night person me; I get up at 9am to work at 10am. Most people would consider that lazy but I think it's a clever use of time. Anyway, on rainy days I tend to walk rather than ride because of the beauty. Maybe I watched too many BBC shows when I was younger but to this day the experience of walking under an umbrella and dodging deep puddles holds a certain romanticism for me.
Small things leap out: water glistening on a smooth rock or flowers vibrant with colour despite the grey sky. It's nice taking some time to actually notice things. My favourite author said that if we went around noticing things all the time we'd never get anything done. And he's right, however it is such a nice thing to indulge in. Momentarily forget what you're doing or have to do and waste some time in contemplating the shape of rain drops.