When I lived in Kansas City, I hardly ever opened an umbrella and I hadn’t had galoshes since 5th grade. There was no need: the car was right outside and most of the places I was going had covered parking. Here in Manhattan, however, if rains, you get wet. If it snows, you get flaky. If it’s windy, you get buffeted. Very few people think that moving to New York will bring them closer to nature. It feels to me like living inside the National Geographic Channel.

And because I find myself so frequently out in the unpredictable elements, I have collected the accoutrements of an intrepid outdoorsman: long underwear, Thinsulate-lined jackets and gloves, wide-brimmed hats for summer, a wardrobe of umbrellas (a tiny one for just-in-case, mid-size for regular rain, golf-sized for a deluge), and my favorite: red rubber boots.

You have to be careful shopping for rain boots. They can be very heavy and hard to walk in. (I took off a previous pair right out on the street and gave them to a homeless woman. The weight of them was wearying and she said she wouldn’t mind.) As a more experienced boot buyer, I found this perfect pair and they give delight me every rainy day. For starters, they’re RED. Red is happy-making (the $64,000 word for that is eudaemonic; anyway—happy-making). And best of all: they are 100% waterproof, which makes me rain-proof. I can jump in puddles and not even feel damp. These boots practically defy karma.

I’m not a “stuff” person. That is, my happiness comes from experiences rather than ownership, and if I were very, very rich I would spend my money on lectures and courses and theater and body work, rather than on clothes and furniture and vehicles and “stuff.” And the richness I already have goes largely to lectures and courses and theater and body work. But there are some objects that are more than worth what I paid for them, because they lift my spirits whenever we get the chance to interact. And because it rained today and I got to wear red rubber boots, I’m grateful to have them. And grateful for the rain. And for New York City. And because I will probably never get too old to appreciate a good puddle.