As Right As Rain

Living in the country means being outside in all weathers, but Wendyl discovers the search for a decent raincoat can be costly

- Wendyl Nissen

I caught myself in town the other day avoiding the rain. This is what you do in the city: you simply run from office to car, from car to supermarket, from car to house, and rarely do you wear a raincoat. An umbrella suffices, but it really only works if you do that weird tippy-toe run that I do when I’m avoiding rain. I found myself doing it the other day and wondered why on earth doing a tippy-toe run makes the rainfall any less heavily and keeps me any drier. Nevertheless, tippy-toe is what I do when it rains in the city.

In the country, the rain is a whole other matter. In the country, you get really, really wet because you need to be out in it to let the hens out, put them back at night, go fishing, harvest veges for dinner and walk the dogs. Yet after four years at our country house I still haven’t bought a decent raincoat.

Instead, I’ve subsisted with various coats I have found in op-shops, because when you are city born and raised no one ever teaches you about the importance of a proper raincoat.

I have worn one that was once owned by an oil driller, which still proudly bore the name of his company on the right-hand side, and got soaked.