Rain - You want us to do what?

Yesterday was a day of lashing rain, exuberant wind whipped trees and frothy sorbet yellow, pollen rimmed puddles.
This being brash and media hungry California, it was impossible for us to slide into an autumn season of gentle precipitation. Hell No! We went from Heatwave and Wildfires to Typhoon, Flooding and Mudslides as quick as a blink. We had 6-8 inches (15-20 cms) of wet stuff from the sky in a twenty four hour period, with high winds to match. I loved every minute of it!
Itsy bitsy dribbly rain is annoying. You don't take it seriously; it's too much trouble to put a coat on; you get surreptitiously dampened; glasses useless, hair flattened, shoulders shivering in cold clothes for the remainder of the day. Bah Humbug.
Give me a rip roaring horizontal torrent and I'll show you my happy face. I have pink wellies with daisies on. I have Gore-TeX rain wear and a leather baseball cap from The Territory Ahead, ever so slightly accented with plaid. If I'm going to get wet anyway, I might as well enjoy being outside when I pretty much get the place to myself. Joggers, cyclists and even squirrels were noticeably absent from the landscape. Just me and some very wet dogs.
Number One Dog, Diva, was a puppy during our first go round with El Nino. I was in shock: When we moved to California from Europe we arrived at the beginning of a seven year drought. I thought it would always be like that. So, you weren't supposed to wash your car and lawns were considered antisocial; You could plan a barbecue or trip to the beach with the certitude of warm, dry surroundings. I didn't even own a raincoat.
I think the El Nino climate kicked in early in the spring one year, or maybe it came to my attention then, because we procured our First Canine, who was an adorable, teddy bear sized puppy with needle sharp teeth and a need for exercise. Diva grew up splishing along trying to catch the bubbles she and I kicked up in the gutters on our walks. As wet from below as from above, "What the Hell? I'm English-What do you Expect?" When it's time to go out, we go out. Weather? What's that?
Yesterday morning I leashed up The Foster Dogs for their usual 45 minute constitutional and opened the door, ready to set out. You should have seen their faces. "You want us to do what? In the Rain?" was expressed as clearly as if they had spoken. We went out anyway, of course, and after a block and a half of near paralysis
they must have reached down into their inner Collie-core of hardy Scottish herding dogs and they got with the program. Big fluffy Marks and Spencer's bath towels were used for doggie massages upon our return and I made good use of the hot shower for myself. It's not exactly roughing it; we were never in danger of hypothermia; we didn't have to hack down branches to build a temporary shelter. Between the morning and afternoon outings with separate sets of dogs, I filled a washing machine with clothes and towels. I had a smile on my face all day and from the look on the faces of the few car drivers who slowed to make clever comments to us, like "You're going to get wet, you know?", we amused some other people too.