Another year, another visit

This past Saturday I spent a good part of the day outdoors in the rain. The skies were very wet and gray, the temperature held at a cool 50 degrees and all was right with the world. My husband, a friend and I visited the Springs for the first time this year. We were fully aware before our departure that rain was forecast but that didn't matter. We were primed and ready to go; it was time.

Our friend usually goes her separate way once we get there to pursue her own Springs experience and we regroup for a long, leisurely lunch in the dining room of the lodge which is quite cozy and warm in the winter months. My husband and I spent several long soaks in the small pool that's fed by a freshet of warm mineral water which then flows into the cool pool. The sensation that comes from being submerged up to the neck in deliciously warm water and feeling cool raindrops falling on top of our heads is marvelous. I experienced this combination of soaking and being rained on simultaneously when I visited Jamaica about six years ago. Every afternoon at almost exactly the same time, dark clouds would roll in from the sea and open up with a cloudburst that lasted not even ten minutes.

That was a warm rain in a tropical setting, however, and getting thoroughly soaked in northern California in January is somewhat different. It's rejuvenating, refreshing and fun. What other time is there when it's all right to sit out in the rain? What I don't understand about visiting the Springs in the winter months is how it's quite tolerable to wander about for short periods of time in rainy 50 degree weather but later that night we cling to each other for warmth when we ease into our beds. Why do our bodies acclimate so quickly when we're outdoors in nothing but our skin? I can be sitting in my living room, fully dressed feeling like my extremities are freezing but feel quite comfortable walking around in a January rainfall without a stitch of clothing. It would be pushing the envelope of reason to suggest that our bodies were created to adapt to less than moderate temperatures if necessary but I wonder about this and, of course, there was a time when they did.

The day ended all too quickly as it always does. Three happy, relaxed people came home ready to take on the world with a renewed vigor and perspective. That, among many other things, is something one always comes away with from visiting this magical place. Plans are already in the works for our next visit sometime in February. I'm looking forward to it!