As I sit here writing this (on Sunday afternoon), I’m experiencing a minor miracle: I am watching it rain. This is becoming a rarer event with each passing year here in Southern California.
(Our local news caught the image well. I love how they keep talking about our winter “storm” and our drenching rain. They must be locals who haven’t lived elsewhere!)
This morning I woke up to the sound of rain hitting the roof. I could have lain there all day, soaking in that sound except a certain two felines have weird ideas about wanting to be fed.
I live in a coastal desert. In my whole life I have never let the water run while I brush my teeth, and showers are utilitarian affairs where one gets clean and doesn’t dawdle.
Ages ago on Twitter I saw a quotation from @Fishmama about my attitude on rain (and other things) that meant enough to me to save it: When I have less of something, I actually value it more and I treat it with more respect.
I savor the sight, sound and smell of this storm because it is a rare, precious event.
In contrast, I never grew up appreciating sunshine. I had it year round. There is nothing special about that. Living in England changed that mindset quickly. In grad school, if it was sunny and I wasn’t in class, I was outside with study materials in tow. Simply soaking in the rays was a luxury. An hour later it very well might be raining, so there was an urgency to the appreciation.
It’s amazing to me how perceptions of the exact same phenomenon change with circumstance. As I stare at the grey skies, I’m hoping they will continue to drop their desperately needed cargo on us for a while. Our forecast shows rain all through Monday, but no more precipitation for that for at least the next 10 days. So even as I suffer through a commute made way too “interesting” by slick roads and unaccustomed drivers, I will be appreciating this glorious rain.
What rare commodity do you appreciate? or Is rain on the roof a universally loved sound?
Grown Up, Now What? 
I like the effect the rain has on the landscape when it’s morning and the sunshine comes through. Everything is damp and fresh looking. The leaves shine and the plants all appear happy and strong. I am looking at the orange poppies so bright in the sun now and the purple flowers next to them Kathy has arranged in the back yard. If it wasn’t so cold out there (relative to what we’re used to) I would be on the patio writing this and sipping coffee. For now, I’m quite content to look through the window and enjoy the beauty of the paradise San Diego is. Yeah, I like what the rain creates, but the rain? Not so much. BUT Kathy LOVES the rain and when she’s happy, I’m happy.
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Happy plants and a happy Kathy are definitely excellent byproducts of the showers.
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I do love the sound of rain – on the roof or anywhere else. As long as I don’t have to drive in it, I’m delighted when it rains.
Sleeping with kitties on the bed on a darkish rainy morning is beautiful. Lucky, ours don’t usually move to complain for food until one of us does. They are happy to snuggle.
Simple things…
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Driving in it is horrible! Here the streets are not designed for runoff. Also, since it is so long between rains, the roads become very slick with all the accumulated oil and other fluids. Add in people not used to driving on wet roads, it is not a good combination.
I’ll take the sound of rain on the roof or walking in it any day after driving over it.
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I love the sound of rain, especially when it’s at night and I’m trying to fall asleep. I don’t know why that is and I’ve met others who feel the same way. Perhaps it’s a universal trait we all share – something to do with connecting to nature perhaps. For me, it’s just the constant tapping of droplets on the roof that sort of lulls me to sleep, that is unless there is thunder, when that starts going, it just ruins my attempt to sleep.
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Thunder doesn’t keep me up, unless it is really close and shakes the building. That alarms me. If it is just the sky grumbling, I can live with that. The glorious sound of rain is definitely preferable!
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