I’m alluding to a song that was popular in the 70’s, by the Carpenters, called “Rainy Days and Mondays”. The song says “…rainy days and Mondays always get me down.”

But I don’t feel that way about rainy days or Mondays.

Water is a life-giving force and water, falling or streaming, is music to my ears, nurturing my soul and soothing my senses.

I’m from the Midwest. We had frequent thunderstorms. So I grew up with an appreciation and eagerness for thunder and lightning (as long as I wasn’t outside, in it!)

But we seldom have thunderstorms here in Seattle. So, when one occurs, it’s cause for celebration among my kids and I. We call each other and exclaim “Hey, did you hear that?”

So imagine my elation when, one day, while I was shopping at Trader Joe’s, standing by the zucchini, I suddenly heard the faint sound of thunder and lightening…………..

……………just before the mist sprayed down lightly over all the vegetables I was standing next to!! 😂

Smiling ear to ear, I looked around to see if anyone else shared my simple fascination, joy, and surprise at the creativity involved in the making of that “thunderstorm”.

But everyone else was just going about their business. It seemed I was the only one who noticed it.

(Oh, well, maybe some day I’ll grow up. 🤨)

But, I say, two thumbs up 👍🏻👍🏻 for the ‘creative’ who came up with the idea!

So last Sunday was a rainy day. Sunday is my only day off. So it’s a day of rest. A day just to chill. A day to do laundry. A day to connect with family and/or friends. And it was a day to turn on “Lizzles!” (a playlist I made of all Lizz Wright‘s songs) and let Lizz’s music intermingle melodically all day long with the rhythmic rainfall gently touching down on the skylight above my desk (my creation station), while I sat there and dreamed wide awake as I began this post and thought about ideas for future posts. Also it was a kind of day that called for soup or a hearty stew, as they say.

Recently I bought an Instant Pot…..

….and an Instant Pot Cookbook….

……by Urvashi Pitre.

Her cookbook offers various dishes from all over the world, three of which were recipes for three delicious Korean dishes my boys and I learned to love during the years we lived in South Korea.

One of the recipes was for Kimchi JJi Gae (Kimchi Stew). I wanted to try it first.

It turned out really well. It was a great recipe true to the authentic flavor I have grown to know so well.

As the day went on, it got colder and the rain turned to snow.

By evening, 7-8 inches of snow had fallen. But I didn’t mind.

🎶 Snowy days and Sundays always get me up too 🎶.