I like watchin' the puddles gather rain

I have a love affair with rain.

It rained yesterday in Los Angeles. It's supposed to rain again Thursday through the weekend. I couldn't be more excited. It's an early Christmas present! I get tired of the never-ending sunshine and warmth that the smog allows us in the oasis known as LA. Whenever I drive up to San Francisco, as soon as I get out of LA and over the mountain, RAIN. The same coming back. I'll be driving six hours in a constant rain, but as soon as I hit the limits of this city, all is clear. It's like there's this Bella Swan love shield surrounding it. protecting it's starlets from bad weather.

I grew up outside of Richmond, Virginia, where there are 4 distinct seasons and both snow and hurricanes allow for school closure. It's hot in the summer and cold in the winter. There are April showers and May flowers; colorful leaves and October bonfires. Then I went to school in Wilmington, North Carolina, where it rained everyday my first two weeks of attendance. Then there was a hurricane evacuation, and fall semester usually saw me wading through 2 inches of water after class, Rainbow flip-flops in hand. Wilmington is like Florida, if you don't like the weather, wait 5 minutes. I grew accustomed to carrying a small umbrella in my purse and always having a hoodie on hand (to deflect the rain and protect against humidity). Next came England. Whenever I tell people I love cold and rain, they usually say something along the lines of how I wouldn't enjoy constant rain. I retort that I lived in England and that shuts them up. 

There's nothing like toting a black rubbish bag of laundry across campus in the pouring rain, with an umbrella flipped out because the wind is so bad that it literally blows people to death.

I wrote this on my old blog when I first moved to LA:

I want soft rain strumming against my window, I want puddles and clouds and rainboots. I want hoodies and jackets and umbrellas. The slosh of the water as tires splash through rain puddles accumulated in low dips in the road and alongside sidewalks. People scurrying about, avoiding the big drops as they plop from the sky. Glossy roads. Melancholy and the Infinite Sadness. Thunderclaps echoing in the distance, lighting barely visible- quick flashes in the grey world like lighting bugs mating. Mugs of steaming English Breakfast tea and dog-eared books in bed.

I find rain to be my biggest inspiration. Its lyricism, its sadness, its imagery.

I can't wait for Christmas in San Fran. It better rain while I'm there.

PS Does anyone else think of The OC's "The Rainy Day Women" when they think of rain in LA? The whole episode starts with Blind Melon's "No Rain," then has "Save it For a Rainy Day" by the Jayhawks... it's the episode with the Seth Cohen upsidedown Spiderman kiss. Love it.