Rain, yes. Relapse, No.

Tonight I'm going to a birthday party for my "best friend" at the bar for the company we both worked at for over eight years. We both worked at the Hopland Brewery tavern when Mendocino Brewing Company was headquartered there and after they moved their brewery to Ukiah. The reason I put "best friend" in quotes is I have lost touch with several of my old friends since I quit drinking over six years ago. I haven't replaced my old friends with new ones either. I've just kind of shut myself off from the outside world for the most part, besides playing softball three months of the year.
This would sound depressing to some but it is actually a good thing. I developed a severe alchohol problem while working there, causing more than a handful of near death experiences that involved myself being impaired at the time. I also stopped doing any art for nearly a decade (my passion since I was four). I have since gotten back into being the artist I've always wanted to be. Just alchohol free.
Tonight I'll be heading back to my old haunts w/o my wife and family. I've been sober for long enough that I can handle being in drinking and social situations without fear of falling off the wagon. I have, however, felt myself yearning for the old days. The way things were when I just had a blast whenever I wanted and had not  a care in the world. This seems to happen more when it's raining outside (it started this morning), remembering the cozy winters I spent with all my former friends at the tavern.
Here's to me battling these urges tonight while trying to rekindle the old friendships I've missed the last few years, without making a life-altering mistake. I have faith that I can.