The Rain

When I moved to California I heard it never rained here.  We moved in December and I found out immediately it was a lie.  It rained.  It rained all the time.  It rained from November to April.  And not only did it rain, it made life miserable.

Living on the East Coast I was no stranger to rain.  It was really no big deal.  Except here in California, it was a big deal.  Everything flooded.  When I was in high school, they had to place sandbags for us to cross to get in to our classrooms.  When I was in lawschool, it meant I had to find alternative means of getting to school and home since the entire road between the two was impassable due to flooding.  A couple of years ago, the rain shut down the entire train system when the tracks were completely under water.  And of course, everything here is outdoors - the malls, shopping centers, all activities.  Which means when it rains, there's really no where to go.

This pattern of rain rain rain has been true for the past 17 years I've lived here.  And then this year rolled around.  This year where there has been no rain.  Not in November.  Not in December.  Not in January.  And I began to understand the drought mentality that most Californians hold in their heads.  The concerns with water conservation and planting native plants.  Things were looking bad.  Our news stories talked about ranchers being forced to sell their cattle, farmers having difficulties with their crops.  And aesthetic issues like our rivers, lakes, and waterfalls turning to trickles.  And no snow to play in on the mountains.

The storm came in Thursday night.  It rained on and off all through the weekend.  And honestly, I can't speak for everyone, but Thatfamily loved it.  I mean, sure I don't love driving in the rain with Californians who don't understand how to drive in the rain (PLEASE for the love of all that is good, lights ON during the pouring rain when visibility is highly compromised!).  And running in the rain on Sunday for miles trying to get back to my car was especially un-fun at the end of my 10 mile run.  But I know how good this is for all living things here.  And Thatboy has loved playing in the rain with Thatboy.  And we've tried to take advantage of the breaks in the rain to do things like food shopping (me), skateboarding (the boys), and heading to the cliffs over La Jolla to watch the giant waves crash on the beach (all of us).