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October 19, 2004

Happy Little Clouds

It's pissing down rain today all along the California coast, so I got soaking wet at school, dashing from building to building across campus. But it's warm, so getting wet wasn't all that bad.

Today I'm thankful for the rain, appropriately enough.

When I lived back East, I didn't appreciate rain the way I have grown to here, in the semi-desert. Now when the first rains start (usually in November, but we'll cut them a break because we got an early spring), I think about all the trees around the state sucking up that water gleefully, filling out and becoming moist. I think about dry, fire-prone grasslands completely waterlogged.

I've always liked rain, which is a good thing because I grew up in a place with a lot of it, and it's the primary non-sunny weather here. Rain makes me feel warm and cozy and comfortable when I'm inside, and alive and connected to the earth when I'm outside. I don't care much for whipping winds combined with ice rain, but that's more about the cold than the rain.

I'm thankful for the rain because it brings me excellent produce. Folks, I have moved to the salad basket of America here in the Central Valley. I'm all of 30 miles from Betteravia, which is where the strawberries come from. I drive out of town and I'm surrounded by fields of delicious food, tended by huddled masses of immigrant labour. Oddly, all the Mexican food I've had here really sucks, which makes me believe I'm in a place where we like to deny who's really supporting the local economy.

I'm thankful for the rain because it gives me something to drink. I've been thirstier here in San Luis Obispo than I ever have in my life. Sometimes I grab a glass of water and chug it down without taking a breath, which I never did before. Sometimes I stand in the kitchen and drink three pints of water in a few minutes, because my body is begging for it. I've never been so thirsty. And the water comes down to feed that need.

I'm even more thankful for the rain because it washes my car. I've been driving a lot. Back and forth to school (not too far) and then to the Bay Area and back, and this weekend I drove all over the place with the moving. Before yesterday, my car was filthy, despite Saturday's rainfall. Now it's only slightly dirty. With no effort on my part. That is how I like car washing to go.

Happy rainy season!

Posted by ayse on 10/19/04 at 5:00 PM