Saving up for Winter and the Rabid Tiger Crazy Lady

Tomato Coulis Recipe

It seems like everyone is scurrying around collecting their nuts for winter and storing them away. The weather has shifted and my primordial instincts are kicking in gear. Well, that and the heavy rainfall inspired me to pick a huge pile of tomatoes that were ripe on the vines. We actually had a huge rainstorm with some lightening and thunder all day long. Meanwhile, I made 6 quarts of tomato sauce, which I will freeze for later.

A bit of a deviation from the canning theme, but along the lines of the rain theme . . .

All week I planned my usual Sunday run with excitement: a 16 mile road run to the beach. The run would be 8 miles out and 8 miles back. It also happened to be the day that would replenish the lan
d with almost 4 months worth of withheld rain. I was working on mile 7 when the Big Rain hit and I was instantly soaked. Really, really soaked. Like: "What is that Crazy Lady doing all wet, running like a rabid tiger?"

Rain has never deterred me from a run, and although it was pouring on and off at 7:30 AM I figured I might as well go off and run anyway. I am tough. I haven't gotten that wet from a run in a long time. Years. And it was just minutes that it took for me to become soaked. I had figured that it would be the cumulative rain that would do me in over the course of 16 miles. Nope. It was like a bucket was dumped over me, and all of a sudden I wasn't just struggling with pacing myself (running fast is just more fun). I was also struggling to look like I was supposed to be out in the pouring rain, "Oh, hey driver, I'm cool, yeah look how tough I am. I meant to be out here all soaked." This is Whidbey Island and the Pacific Northwest after all. We go outside in the rain, otherwise we would hibernate. There are just no two ways around it.

Being all wet and tough wasn't as gratifying as I thought it would be. I became more obsessed with keeping my breathing low so as not to touch my belly to my wet, cold and increasingly heavy shirt. Yet, I could not let my soaked clothing keep me from reaching the beach, just one mile away (and 9 miles from home).

Lucky for me, rescue was on the way! I had tried, unsuccessfully I thought, to get my mom to join me on my run. I reached the beach, turned around and completed yet another mile (9 miles into it, 7 to go) when she showed up via car with a fresh t-shirt and water. Perfect timing as it did not pour down rain the rest of the run!

Happy Canning and running! Don't let a little or even a lot of rain stop you from enjoying the outdoors this fall...