go back outside, you're bringing water into the house

All this rain is bringing back memories of being seven years old and walking to and from school in the rain (resplendent in green polyester raincoat).

My brother and I would stick our leather school shoe-clad feet into the gutter to create a "dam wall" for the water to gush over, and then have leaf races, where you each put a leaf into the water and see whose gets to the nearest dead end first. The fun part was running alongside the gutter after your leaf, trying to keep up without tripping. And the inevitable "that's not fairs!" when something got in the way of your leaf which had been winning.

Squelching home with sodden socks was one of most treasured moments of childhood defiance. Mum would hit the roof. We would just smile.

I miss being a kid.