6.30.2013

I Need Rain (or: Rain, Rain, Come This Way)


Warning: This post does not have a point. I apologize for the weirdness and pointlessness of it in advance.

The desert is nice and all, but recently I've been feeling an intense desire to go somewhere that's, well... Wet. And green.  

I don't really know why I love moisture and precipitation so much. I don't know why the thought of big thunderclouds approaching on the horizon brings me such joy. I'm sure it has something to do with the fact that I've been living in the Utah desert for 13 years. I'm sure it also doesn't help that it has been 100 degrees here recently. But the fact of the matter is that I love rain. I crave it. Overcast days make me happy. And when it rains... Well, I feel euphoric. Sunny days, on the other hand, just feel: Oppressive, deadening, exhausting.

It annoys me when the weatherman or the people at work get upset because it's overcast or because it might rain - and then they tell me I'm weird when I say that I like clouds and rain and so on and so forth. They ask me if I'm "emo."

My response: "We live in Utah. It's the desert. You have lots and lots and lots and lots and lots of time to play and melt in the sun. Are you really going to get upset because 30 of the 365 days in the year aren't witheringly hot and bright and sunburny and all that?" 

Even when it does rain here, nine times out of ten it sprinkles for ten minutes and then it's over and we're left to look forward to our next "rainstorm" in four months.

Of course, everyone responds: "You should move to Seattle."

And, well, I would if I could. One of my dreams is to move to Portland or Seattle or anywhere on the Olympic Peninsula. In fact, from every description I've read, those places sound like paradise on Earth. They get lots of moisture, they have lots of big, growing, green things, and lots of little streams and rivers and so on. So, in other words, they're kind of the opposite of Utah.

Of course, I might change my mind after a few months in Seattle. I'm sure the strong attraction I feel to those places has at least something to do with how very different they are from Utah. Perhaps I'd go there, get tired of the constant rain, and then decide I really just want to live in a place where you can expect more than three rainy days in a year. Of course, I don't want tornadoes and I don't want flooding - but I have to believe there's a happy medium out there.

...In the meantime, I've taken to Googling pictures of thunder clouds and rain and staring at them, daydreaming that I'm living somewhere where real, honest thunderstorms are more than just the stuff of fantasy. Somewhere where you can look out in the distance and see those big, epic thunder clouds approaching and where you can wake up to the sound of rain on your window.

I like pictures like these:









2 comments:

Lara said...

Virginia is green and has a good mix of weather--sun, rain, storms, snow, etc. You have four siblings that live in the area and the job market is good. What are you waiting for?

George said...

Here's our experience in Seattle: Wake up; the rain is drip-drip-dripping. Go to work (in the dark); the rain is drip-drip-dripping. Work all day; the rain is drip-drip-dripping. Drive home (in the dark); the rain is drip-drip-dripping. Go to bed; the rain is drip-drip-dripping.
Seattle is not rainstorms; it's more like a sinus infection.
(Very well written, by the way. And I completely agree.)