Ok, problem solved. Lesson learned. Sorry K.

It's raining today, but that's ok because I love the smell of rain. It reminds me of home. For those of you that don't know, home for me is a shipping town on the Saginaw Bay. School is Podunkville, Michigan that just happens to be landlocked. The smell reminds me of walking down at the Riverwalk at home. Walking along the piers and watching the boats and freighters move up and down the river. Seeing the fishermen out on the bay and wondering what they've caught. Lying in bed on a lazy summer morning with my bedroom window open and hearing the freighters sound their horns to signal the bridge to open for them. One long and one short blast that can be heard within about a mile of the bridges. And my favorite summertime activity, sailing on the bay with my aunt. For two years I was her main crew member on the Wednesday night sailing races. It is so beautiful to watch all those sailboats racing across the bay. The spinniker boats are especially beautiful with their multi-colored spinniker sails that make those boats dance on the water. I really missed being out there this summer while I was at school. I missed the feeling of the air tugging on my hair, the exhiliration of trying to reef down a sail in high winds (while being clipped via a lifeline to the boat and having another crew member hold onto you so that you stay on the boat), being able to reach your hand straight out from the boat and have it dip into the water because of the angle that you're at. There's something special about being from a shipping town. It's something that's buried deep inside the people who love the water. People like me. For whom the smell of fresh rain brings back a whole flood of memories.