Monday, June 26, 2006

I hate Rain: A Paradox

One of my favorite positions while sitting at my desk is folding one of my legs under my other thigh [like a half pretzel, except not as delicious]. I'm not quite sure why I do this; inevitably, my leg falls asleep, I get those awful pins and needles, and then move on to hit my foot repeatedly on the floor, while yelping in pain. But I proceed to sit this way anyways.

So, like every other day, I just pulled my leg out from under me, finished jumping around like a crazy lady and realized that my left thigh was sopping because the bottom of my pant leg was wet from walking in the rain. At which point I thought to myself: I hate rain.

At least at this moment. I hate rain because I LOVE slip on shoes. Flip-flop, flats, ballets, LOVE LOVE LOVE them. It makes my day not having to put on real shoes, socks, or tie a lace. However, I can only wear these types of shoes when there is warm weather and when there is warm weather there is rain. You don't have to be a weather man to know when you step outside and feel like you just popped out of the shower [however, not nearly as clean] that the sky is about to open up and monsoon. Unfortunately, rain and slip-on-shoes don't mesh. Which is why today, I hate rain.

However, one of my favorite things EVER is thunderstorms. Whenever I see that thunderbolt on the weather report [even if it's the 10 day forcast] I secretly jump for joy inside my head. I love when it suddenly gets so dark you think the world is going to end and hearing the pittle pattle of rain drops [both big and small] on the roof makes me giddy. These sounds are comforting to me and remind me of home [the rainforest, aka Nashville, TN].

Rainstorms also mean I can't go outside. Don't get my wrong, I enjoy warm, sunny, clear weather like the rest of us, but some of my favorite days are never getting out of my PJS, ordering food in, and watching TV. I label a 'successful indoor day' the ones where the most physical activity I get is moving from my bed, to the couch, to the door to tip my delivery guy. Sometimes, its just way better to stay indoors and I don't want to feel guilty about it. I am somehow comforted in the fact that I can be a lazy bum when its raining without someone saying 'But it's such a beautiful day!'. Beautiful day my ass, if I want to stay inside let.me.be. My friend Vicki claims that this is an 'East Coast' mindset, i.e. California doesn't have ugly days, so they are never guilted into going outside on the beautiful days because everyday is beautiful. [umm wasn't there flooding or something last year??? oh well] This theory does make sense, however, when I lived in Cali [albeit Northern] I do remember there being like 107 consecutive days of rain and lots of fog. Sounds like my idea of heaven.

When I moved from Montreal, people said to me, wow, you must really be glad to get rid of that weather. Initially I agreed, but now, I kinda miss it. Its nice in the winter to super duper cold outside and come home make a cup of hot chocolate and cuddle under a blanket. Yes, it does get tiring, but when Spring [okay canada doesn't really have spring, Winter and Summer] comes and people go CRAZY it's a lot of fun. We're all like little bears coming out from hibernation and the culmination of festivals, people playing sports outside, BBQs and the like is incredible. Yes, I'm sure California has all these things too. However, after a long winter of minus 40 degree weather, nearly getting frostbite LIKE EVERYDAY, and snow on the ground for 6 months I have a hard time believing they appreciate the good weather as much. Or feel the same joy hearing people FINALLY telling them to get outside because "It's a beautiful day."

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