Here's That Rainy Day

Found myself humming Jimmy Van Heusen’s jazz standard while riding this morning and for good reason. Our good luck dodging the rainstorms changed today as we began the ride in a steady strong downpour. 20 minutes into it, we reached a bridge to cross the river and the bridge was gone. So some quick re-calculating while standing in the still-pouring rain and eventually found our way over the river and through the fields (not woods and no grandmother awaiting us) on a dedicated bike path. We passed some fields of an unidentifiable grain (young barley?), heard some frogs and ducks and miraculously, the rain abated and the sun came out! Glory, glory, hallelujah!

 

On we wheeled, the gravel path turning into bumpy hard stones, but no matter with our sturdy bikes and good shock absorbers. The sun was enough good fortune, as was the privilege of biking free and footloose through lovely countryside with no more cares than wondering when the next rain would fall.

 

We didn’t have to wait long, for just as we approached a town, it came again and then harder and then harder yet and we stopped under the eaves of a barn and decided to backtrack a few hundred yards and follow the sign to a restaurant. That we did and the restaurant was closed, but there were some covered areas with tables and just as we arrived, the skies opened wider, the thunder boomed and the rain tripled its intensity. We ate the lunch we packed from our breakfast (shh! Don’t tell!) watching the river rise before us. And then 20 minutes later, the sun again!

 

On we went and now some 24 miles and three hours from our start, we arrived at our next hotel in Vrhnika. As we checked in, a few claps of thunder and yet again, pouring rain. This rondo form of weather, with rain the constant A section. 

The afternoon awaits while my soaked- through shoes and shorts do their best to dry. While waiting for the next appearance of the sun, I’m listening to four different versions (on Spotify) of Here’s that Rainy Day— Astrud Gilberto, Frank Sinatra, Chet Baker and Bill Evans. The lyrics don’t match my experience today, but still, lovely to listen to them all. A touch of Americana (at its best) in the Slovenian countryside.