When I was growing up, I don’t think I ever had a pair of rain boots. They wouldn’t have been practical where we lived. What we did have were overshoes. Probably when I was little, I had a pair of three buckle overshoes, but the ones I remember were four buckle overshoes. You pulled them on over your regular shoes and they were a bit difficult to get on. Then you buckled them up to about mid-calf. They were great for snow. The snow couldn’t get into the boots, even if it was deeper than the tops of the boots. They had a bit of extra insulation to help keep your feet warm.

But I saw pictures in books of children with rain boots and rain coats and even some with umbrellas. I thought they looked pretty good. We never had any of those things. When you live in a place where the winds can top 60 mph, umbrellas aren’t considered to be useful at all. Still, I remember imagining myself with a yellow rain coat and a yellow rain hat and a pair of yellow rain boots.

We did splash in puddles when we wore our overshoes. In the spring when the snow turned to slush and the puddles formed in the street, it was fun to splash. We also loved it when it was cold enough for skim ice to form on the puddles so we could break the ice by jumping in the middle of the puddle.

I haven’t thought about rain boots for years. Our grandchildren have rain boots. The three that are walking at the farm need them for much of the year. There is plenty of mud on the farm and plenty of other things that you don’t want to step in without proper footwear. I bought a pair of muck boots when I arrived in the northwest and then my sister gave me another pair when she moved from Montana. Those were probably left over from when she lived on the farm, but they were way too big for her and they fit me fine. So now I have two pairs of rain boots. They are black, but they keep my feet warm and dry.

Yesterday we got a good rain in the morning. It poured hard for nearly a half hour and then it sprinkled and showers passed through for a couple of more hours. In the afternoon, when the rain stopped, our grandson was ready to go out and splash in puddles. He has rain boots and so he was all ready to go.

A three-year-old, however, is capable of making splashes that are big enough to get wet feet even in a pair of good rain boots. In fact a three-year-old is capable of getting his pants and even his shirt wet in a trip around the block stomping in puddles. I know. I saw it happen. There was a distinctive “swish, swish,” as he walked the final 25 yards to home. His mother slipped him out of his boots and took him into the bathroom to change into dry clothes. I picked up the boots and poured a cup or so of water out of each one. I think he picked up enough water to add four or five pounds of weight to carry around. That didn’t dampen his enthusiasm, however.

A pair of boots and a street full of puddles is sufficient entertainment for a child. He has plenty of toys. I’ve learned about Spiderman and Paw Patrol and Bluey and Toy Story and a host of other characters. I’ve played “stinky socks” and “pie in the face” and a half dozen other games. I’ve helped with puzzles and built with legos, duplos, magna-tiles and other toys. I’ve had a good time playing with our grandson and I’m going to miss him when we get back to Washington. Thank goodness for Skype and FaceTime.

Our journey today takes us from Columbia to Chicago. We’ll only see the airport in Chicago, but we might get a view of the city out of the window of the airplane as we approach. We lived in Chicago four four years, but tomorrow doesn’t really afford us much time for nostalgia or remembering our Chicago years. We’ll rush to find the right gate and change planes for Seattle. By the time we get home, we’ll be tired and ready to be in our own space. Life goes on and we have lots of things to do.

I know that it is popular to say that the most important part of the trip is the journey, but for us travel has several important parts. There is journey, destination, and home, all of which are important. We enjoy traveling. I like to see what types of planes we get to ride in. I like seeing the changes in the airports. I enjoy looking out the windows and figuring where we are. I am amazed at the speed of travel even though we have had lots of opportunities to do so.

But I also enjoy being with our daughter and her family. Our visits are too infrequent and too short for me. We know that things will change and perhaps they will be closer to us at the next phase of their careers. But we also know that love is much stronger than the distances that divide us. We have sustained friendships for decades over great distances. We have great friends who live on different continents. Our friendships endure even though we don’t get to see each other as often as we would like.

Today we will have plenty of memories of a great visit to sustain us through the travels and we will have plenty of pictures to remind us of how fortunate we have been to make this trip. New adventure await us. After all it doesn’t take much to make us happy. A child, a pair of rain boots, and a few puddles will do!