Ten Awesome Things.... About Rain

As you may know I live in a non-rainy place – Los Angeles.  Which is unfortunate for me because I love the rain (although not enough to want to move anywhere else) so when it does rain I get super excited. For some reason, though, it only seems to rain at night time so I don’t get to appreciate it as much as I could.

This weekend  we had a couple of storms come through which let me enjoy daytime rain. In honor of these storms today’s post is all about rain!

O N E – It’s great for our dried up reserves. It’s no secret the California is in a drought (we usually are) and that this winter has been SUPER dry (hey East Coast, send some of that snow this way!) so getting these storms is helpful – we still need a lot more, though!

T W O – It makes us appreciate the sun more. There is that saying that you can’t know what happiness is unless you know what sadness is. The same goes for rain and sunshine. Without the rain would you appreciate the sun? (And the sun all the freaking time makes me appreciate the rain more).

T H R E E – It smells good! You know what I’m talking about! The smell of the concrete becoming wet. The fresh air. It’s all great, or is it just me? (maybe this is because it doesn’t happen often)

F O U R – Splashing in puddles! I love wearing my tall rain boots and walking in the puddles (as long as I don’t splash myself, that is). I also love going a good speed through big accumulations of water. There are lots of these here when it rains because our gutters are all clogged up. There is one street near me that for a good 3 miles gets so backed up with rain water that small cars cannot use the right lane. So much fun!

F I V E – The sound of it on the windows. As I’m typing this on Monday afternoon at work, I can hear (on and off) the pitter patter of the droplets on the window. I also love this at home. We have a skylight in our bedroom and at night the rain is loud against the skylight. It annoys Thomas, but I love it! Surround sound rain! (the window is on the opposite side of the room from the skylight).

S I X – An excuse to cuddle up and watch a movie. Not that we really need an excuse, but it does make it easier to want to do this. I love sitting on the couch, the sliding glass door open and a blanket pulled up around me watching something. Bliss.

S E V E N – Hail/Thunderstorm - even more rare than rain around here is hail and thunderstorms. This past storm had both. I didn't get to experience the hail myself but my niece and nephew got pelted on it on Sunday when they went to the Griffith Observatory and on Monday on the way home from school. Jealous!

E I G H T - Snow! No, it doesn't snow where I live. At least not on the ground. But within an hours' drive there can be plenty. Unfortunately this has not happened in a couple of years. Rather, it has snowed but it hasn't stuck around more than a few hours making snow play not really an option. 

N I N E - Rainbows! Without rain there can't be rainbows!! 

T E N - Walking in the rain. Beyond splashing in puddles - it's fun to just walk in the rain, even if with an umbrella. There is something nice about enjoying the storms all around you. 

Rain, Rain Come Again!

My mom has a story that when I first saw it rained I looked at her, confused, and asked what was happening. She says I was 4 at the time. I live in Los Angeles, so this story is not too farfetched. It does not rain here often or much. California is 9 out of 10 times in a drought and we are always being advised to conserve water by taking shorter showers, turning off sprinklers, and making sure to turn off the sink while brushing our teeth. I remember one summer when I was maybe 9 or 10 my dad used the water from the washing machine to wash our car.

This year we are being warned that we are in one of the worst or the worst drought that has been recorded. It’s only rain a couple of times all winter. Winter, that’s not something we actually know around here. We had 2 cold weeks in November (still Fall time) and winter has given us mostly 75-90* days. While it hasn’t felt like summer (because summer gives us 100*+ days) it has been a far cry from what most people consider winter weather.

Beginning late last week when forecasters began to tell us that there were a couple of storms heading our way the city and surrounding areas have gone nuts. On the news this morning they were reporting how a neighborhood was just abandoning their homes for fear of mudslides. Some of these are based on real fears – areas that had fires recently and therefore more prone to mudslides when it rains. Some people though they are just plain crazy over the rain. Listening to people talk about it you would think that it rains all the time “it’s raining again?” I can’t remember when it rained last!

The first storm has already left and I know it did some damage. My cubicle at work is against a wall – the paint on it bubbled up overnight. My supervisor’s cubicle had some water damage, papers were wet and some towels against the window were soaked. Still, it didn’t rain too much and by the time we got up in the morning the ground was drying up and the sun was coming out. (It always seems to rain at night here, rarely during the day, I wonder why?). The next storm is supposed to come in tomorrow and it’s supposed to be stronger than the last. Some people were saying that it’s strong enough that it will be placing a big dent into our drought situation. I read somewhere that there should be 3 feet of snow in the mountains. I’m sure my brother will be going to Frazier Park this weekend, after it stops raining.

We are very unprepared for rain here. My niece and nephew don’t have rain boots so my mom frets over them ruining their shoes and getting their feet wet. People drive just as fast when it rains than when it doesn’t but they don’t know how to handle their cars so accidents increase.

It's beautiful though...