I rolled over in bed to greet a rainy gloomy morning. In San Francisco, it generally rains for about 3 months a year with the rest of the year being completely dry. Somehow, every year I forget the rain. I forget dark, wet mornings. I forget the mud. Even Puck, my dog seemed to want to bury himself in the covers.

Inevitably, we must venture out for the morning walk. The dog cowls in the doorway as the rain and wind drench the landscape. The only thing darker than this day is my mood. I resign myself to the moment and drag the dog to the car. Moments later we arrive at our usual spot, Bernal Hill.

For those of you familiar with SF, you’ll know that from atop Bernal the views are amazing. NW is the city skyline, east is Oakland and the San Mateo Bridge, and west is Twin Peaks and Noe Valley. South is the 101 and Daly City. On a clear day, the Bay Area is offered up for your viewing pleasure. Today was not such a day. Fog and rain obliterated any potential view.

As we made our way up the hill, I continued to mutter. “Who needs this?” “Why can’t the dog just pee on the corner?” “I need coffee!” and I’m loving life. I wanted a coffee, I wanted a Danish and I wanted to be back in bed

Somewhat self-absorbed and the dog had wandered off to seek a tree to stand under, I had failed to notice my new companion. A rather wet little mutt had run up to greet me. He couldn’t have been happier. And, when I took a second glance, I realized he had three legs. Despite myself, I smiled and rubbed him behind the ears. Shortly thereafter, his owner came along apologizing for my new friend, “I’m sorry, he just loves the rain.”

I don’t know how he lost his leg, I didn’t ask. It just struck me that it didn’t matter. Yeah life throws us gloomy days, and sometimes some serious hurdles to overcome. But like my three legged friend, we make the best of it and try to be happy. I’d like to say that having reached this epiphany, the sun came out and the birds began to sing, but that’s not true. It continued to rain, but I couldn’t have been happier.

Puck and I survived our walk in the rain, as we will likely again tomorrow and most of January and February. Some days the dark clouds seem to gather and pit fate against us, but it just takes a very, wet three legged mutt to chase them away. A three legged mutt comes in many forms – a laugh of a child, a kind word from a stranger or a really good cup of coffee. I hope 2007 is filled with many opportunities to find them.