Looking for the door into Summer

Raindrops are such funny things.
They haven't feet or haven't wings.
Yet they sail through the air,
With the greatest of ease,
And dance on the street,
Wherever they please.


- Anon.

I am writing this on a wet Saturday.  It is a gloriously wet rainy day as rain is a marvellous thing.  If I had to be outside in this rain I might feel differently but I have the luxury of being able to sit and listen to the rain as it hits the windows and drums on the conservatory roof.
As I move from window to window I start to think about a conversation I had many years ago with a former work colleague.  We were talking about cats and how when you open the door for them on a cold rainy day (like today) they often stop and look at you as if the weather is your fault.  I was told it was because they are looking for the door into summer; an idea from 'The Door into Summer' by Robert Heinlein (1957).
It is a great, old school, science fiction story set in the 1970s (the future as it was then).  It has a good dose of time travel in it (I like time travel stories, have I mentioned I like Dr Who?) and a key part of the story is the relationship between the hero (Daniel) and his cat (Pete).  Despite its age, the book has not dated that much.
I love old paperbacks, they often have great covers and smell of old paperback, which is a distinct smell.  I also like (bizarrely) that the cover involves a woman who has lost her clothes for no reason connected to the plot whatsoever.



I cannot find the door into summer.  It is wet, it is grey outside every window.  The colour is strained from the garden as it is still recovering from spending a week under the recent snow.
Part of me, like my cats, half hopes there is a window, a door that leads out onto a sunnier, warmer day and that one day I will find the door into summer.  Until then I'll just happily wait first for Spring and take the year each day in its turn.  Nature has its rhythm for a reason and there are enough dystopian science fiction stories out there to warn me that letting that rhythm run its course is the safest and wisest thing to do.








Comments

  1. Ha, my horses are like your cats. Can't you do something about this weather? they all but ask.

    I hadn't heard of that book; I'm a science fiction fan too so I'll have to check it out.

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  2. PS Probably a silly question but have you read the short story "A Vintage Season"?

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  3. I'm weary of this greyness - I would like some sunshine or even a nice day of rain but something more definite than this grey nothingness

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  4. @sweetbay I've not read A Vintage Season - I'll look out for it - thanks :)

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  5. Delightful post - irrelevant naked woman and all! The photos of rain on the windows are lovely.

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  6. I like science fiction and like yourself I love the rain as long as I am indoors.Give Dean Koontz a try if you haven't already done so.

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  7. I love time travel stuff too. I shall be looking for the door into summer now.

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