Dear Readers,
I love the rain. I love the way it cleans the air, and how the fresh scent infuses me with a nearly euphoric feeling or at the least the genuine and pure warmth of peace. I don’t even mind the way it drenches my bangs so that they cover my eyes and blind me, or the aftermath in which each individual strand of hair manages to protrude proudly in a different direction and give others the impression I’m half-human and half-porcupine. I love the way that so many Portlanders, myself included, scoff at umbrellas and embrace the fervently falling drops, as if we’ve made our peace with the fact that taking cover eludes the windfall that makes Portland one of the most lush locales we have the good fortune to inhabit.
That’s not to say that my love affair with the rain carries on all ten—-it’s Portland, let’s be honest, eleven—-months of the year. Much like a new relationship, I find that my honeymoon period with the rain lasts approximately three months and twenty-three days, at which time I begin to become disenchanted with its adverse impact on my life. Take its direct effect on my fashion savvy. For example, while my closet proudly displays fourteen adorable jackets, only one actually repels the rain, and it’s the least adorable one of the bunch. Yet it’s the only one that gets worn during the months of September through July, leaving the others to feel dejected and abandoned. Not to mention that I can’t possibly be expected to walk six blocks to the gym when it’s raining, as the aforementioned bangs get in my aforementioned eyes, rendering me temporarily blinded by the elements (the elements being my unmanageable hair) and thus an unsafe street crosser who can’t look both ways. Or even straight ahead.
But let’s be honest; I didn’t actually have a sense of fashion to begin with, and I didn’t actually walk to the gym even when the weather was sunny. I’ve actually forgotten where my gym is, although I know for certain it’s six blocks in some direction from my place.
So the absolute delight induced by the rain far outweighs any unfavorable consequences it might inadvertently bestow in its glorious mist. And I’m excited it has returned for an extended visit. At least for the next three months and twenty-three days. 🙂
–Troi out