It’s Just a Little Bit of Rain

While some parts of the world have rainy seasons where the rain comes down hard and heavy and gets most of the annual rainfall done in a couple months, Oregon does the opposite; about two-thirds of the year is rainy (or at least overcast with the threat of rain). The rain could come down hard, but often times it’s fairly light. It drizzles. It sprinkles. It showers. [Pause.] It’s just there…constantly.

So you really have no choice but get used to the rain. Barring the summer, it probably rained yesterday and it will probably rain tomorrow. So you accept it and just shrug it off. Sure, you can always use an umbrella to shield yourself from the rain, but I admit that more often than not I don’t really even bother using one; it just seems like such a hassle to use and once you’re indoors (assuming you’re not at a location you’re spending the day at, like work), what do you do with your wet umbrella? Carry it around with you? Place it on the ground and inevitably forget it? It’s just annoying. [Sigh.] I will use my umbrella if it’s raining really hard or if I have to walk a long distance, but other than that I tend to just walk in the rain.

When I see someone using an umbrella when it’s drizzling and walking a short distance (e.g. from the parking lot to a department store) I usually think that they’re not from around here—they must be from a particularly sunny place and they haven’t built up their rain immunity yet to bear getting wet. Because walking a couple of minutes in the rain isn’t that far (and besides you’ll dry off soon enough)…it’s just a little rain.

I Hope for Rain

As a child snow was an exciting novelty. It was a welcome surprise that generally meant school was canceled. It meant playing outside and perhaps an attempt at making an anemic snowman. It meant wrapping my hands around a mug of hot chocolate to help warm myself up after a cold winter’s day. Snow was almost magical in its quiet beauty that easily brought a smile to my face.

Yet as an adult the novelty is gone. I like snow…unless I have to deal with it. It hardly snows in the Portland-Metro area; we get a few flurries here and there that may or may not stick, but whenever it does snow, chaos ensues. It barely takes an inch before the news has its “Storm Watch” stories, schools are canceled and car accidents accumulate. Every year this happens because we’re just not equipped to handle any amount of snow.

Earlier this week came our first snow of the season, and as a beautiful blanket of snow covered the rooftops, dread filled me. Snow brings inconvenience, whether it’s the stress of driving in slippery conditions or avoiding it altogether and remaining housebound, it just throws everything out of whack. A couple of nights ago snow was falling silently down, but then in the midst of sleeping that night I heard the pattering of rain on the roof and relief filled me. Rain was washing away the snow.

So when winter comes and temperatures drop, I hope for rain. Yes, I know I may complain about the rain and often wish for sun, but I’ll take rain over snow any day of the week.