Thursday, August 28, 2008

An atypical opinion from a former Seattleite

I love the rain. I don't know how and it doesn't make sense, but there's no denying it. I lived in Seattle for 7 years and those never-ending, gray, wet winters were just too much for me. I've only been living in Arizona for about 2 years now and I have to say I miss the rain sometimes. I get so excited when it rains here, maybe because I know it will be short-lived. It's not like in the Emerald City where it's just raining everywhere west of the Cascades. Here in Tucson, it will be raining buckets and hailing on the east side when here by the airport where I live, we get nothing. They keep record at the airport too, so it's not a fair representation of the precipitation Tucson gets. 

Well, I was stranded inside the Target tonight. I got off work late and had to buy some cake mix. I couldn't find the damn stuff so was in there a lot longer than I planned on being. I was remembering the ominous black clouds coming in from the east as I scoured the food aisles for what I was looking for. Before I found the stuff the store was all of a sudden inundated with the loud pounding of rain. If I didn't know better I would have thought the ventilation system was going berserk--it sounded like air was just blasting throughout the store. Good thing I was wearing my tennis shoes today! When the torrential downpour let up a little I booked it across the parking lot to my car cursing at myself for parking so far away, splashing in the puddles that filled up impossibly fast. The particular Target I was at is located right across the street from Reid Park where I used to do my runs. It was full of walkers and runners who were taking advantage of the cooler weather when the got caught in that downpour. I saw people soaked to the bone, others had taken their shirts off they were so wet, and I was jealous of them! I was so mad that I left my running clothes at work! For some reason, rain gets me itching for a run. I even considered going out for a quick jog when I got home. That is, until I saw all the lightning that was headed towards my neighborhood. That idea died pretty quick.

For now, I just want to curl up all cozy in my house with some soup or hot chocolate and listen to the rain tap on the windows. Time to put the lounging clothes on--my workout can wait until tomorrow.

4 comments:

loqi said...

LT also misses the rain when he deploys, or when he's stuck training at 29 Palms (in California in the Mojave Desert).

You share a love of running in the rain with Sara. It must be a southwest thing. :) I am too anal, and hate when my shoes get wet while I run. :-p

Tania said...

The wet shoes used to bug me, but what can you do during Seattle winters? I had to keep running to keep my endurance up and I just got used to the sopping shoes. I guess I love it here because it reminds me of home....and it's alot cooler when it rains. 100+ degree heat plus running=unbearable headache for me!

Momily said...

I love the rain, too. When it goes too long here without raining, I get all anxious and grouchy. Somehow the rain helps me to relax. If we ever have to move away from the Puget Sound area, I know I will miss it tremendously.

Tania said...

I used to get the same way during those Seattle summers. I hated seeing the smog and longed for just a day of rain to clear it up again. My friends back home think I'm crazy for missing the rain! We don't really appreciate what we have until we don't have it anymore!