Rain

Rain. What do you think about rain? It's wet? It ruins my hair? It puts water spots on my car? It makes me sad? It makes me happy? It's soothing? It's relaxing? What is your opinion? Love it or hate it? Me? I personally LOVE it! When I see rain in the forecast, I get excited! Rain relaxes me and puts me at ease. It takes away anything that may be bothering me at the time. Yes, I don't like when I get my hair wet from it because my hair does not cooperate as it is, but that's the least of my worries. There are ways to go around that.

When it rains, it takes me back to my high school days with my friend Kelly. If it were the weekend and it was raining or about to rain, one of us would call the other and meet up to either go running in the rain or ride our bikes in the rain. We loved it! The streets around her house growing up would flood a lot. That meant running and jumping through the puddles. Or, if we were riding our bikes, we would ride them really fast through the puddles. I know, not your typical teenage girls, right? We really weren't. I wasn't popular. And growing up I always thought of myself as a tomboy. And, sports or doing sporty things were fun for me. So, having a good close friend like Kelly was amazing! That we loved doing the same things. And it just happened to be that running and riding bikes in the rain was two of them.

As I got older, I still loved it in the rain. When I was in boot camp and my military school for the Army, I was in two locations where it rained a lot. They were humid rains, but nonetheless, rain. In Missouri we would be marching in our BDU's in the rain. That was tough. I'm not going to lie. long sleeves and pants along with boots. We usually had a poncho on if it were raining, but I still loved it. It was a little refreshing when it would rain. No matter how humid it was. Since when it was sunny, it was miserable. Then, off to San Antonio, Texas. I stepped off that bus into more humid weather. I think it was worse because it was sticky. It rained a little through August and September, but it was October when it really rained. That year, 1997, it flooded in San Antonio. I mean, the base was flooded in the low lying areas. The places we would run were so far under water. The trees themselves were under water. At least there we wore our BDU tops with the sleeves rolled up. But still in pants and boots. But it made it better. And rain was so refreshing, I still didn't care. I was probably one of the few who would walk, not run, from one barracks to the other for formation or to get to my bunk.

Once I got home and when I moved to Northern California in 2001, I had more rain than I had had in a long time. Yes, it rained in Southern California, but nothing like Northern. It was cold. So, I was bundled up, but it was rain. One summer I went to a Chris LeDoux concert with my then boyfriends family at the State Fair. Through the whole concert it was pouring rain with thunder and lightening. I will have to say, it was probably the best experience at a concert. The rain, the thunder, the lightening, and even the wind made it fun. And the fact that Chris LeDoux kept on playing no mater what. I was drenched at the end and didn't care.

There has only been one time when I didn't care for the rain. Really it was about a year and a half time. I was working for CHP and rain meant busy. I didn't mind the phones when it was raining, it was the radio. I was already nervous about the radio there while in training as it was, and then make it a rain day and it really freaked me out. I was lucky that my supervisors working New Years of 2005-2006 decided to keep the trainees off the radio that day. Why? Because all of Sacramento was flooding. Homes from Elk Grove to North Highlands and Elverta area were flooding. We would see the news and there were people on their roofs waving for helicopters to come get them. The phones were off the hook. I couldn't really enjoy the rain when I worked there. Which made it so I didn't want to do anything in the rain. On my days off I would stay inside with the shades closed and watch tv or movies.

After CHP I started working for State Parks. By this time we were getting into the drought years. So rain was few and far in between. When it would rain all of us at work would get excited. Excited because that meant the reservoirs would have a bit more water. But in the end, we have had way too many drought years since I've worked for State Parks. So much so that I can count on my hands how many days of rain we had each year, until this year.

This year we have had rain at least once a week from mid October through February. March it started to taper off some, but we still have rain. Some of the rain has been so cold that in the mountains it was snowing. I can't remember the last time we had so much snow in the Sierras. It's been beautiful! Although, last year we did have freezing temperatures here in the Sacramento area to the point we had snow fall but not stick. This year we didn't get that far, but we had low snow fall. This year is what got me thinking of the rain. The last two days we have had rain and it's made me happy. I had the blinds and curtains open in the house and watched the rain fall. It's soothing, hypnotizing, majestic.

Then there is that smell. The fresh clean smell of rain. Where it's clearing out all the smog and yuck out of the air. Have you ever noticed that? The way rain cleans out everything in the air and the ground? Not to mention the day after it has been raining. Whether it's rained one day or 5, the day after the sky is clear, crystal blue with the big white puffy clouds. Everything feels and smells clean. Everything looks new again. It's like rain comes when you need to clear out the bad and it leaves all the good behind. It's beautiful. The last few days of rain has helped with any depression I may have. Any stress I may have. It's calmed me. Helped me know that things will be ok. It came at the right time, since I've been stressing over financial situations regarding my transplant. The fact that my transplant is at Stanford which is in a very high cost area. The hotels and airbnb or vrbo homes are all in the high cost area. Prices are not cheap. So, the stress and a little depression (which brought on a lot of sleepless or very little sleep nights) were calmed and washed away by the rain the last two days.

I know rain is not for everybody. I understand that. But, for me and for Eric, it puts us at peace. The rain helps with our moods. Rain makes us feel fresh, clean and like everything is going to be just fine.   Our depression and stress go away for a while. So, the next time it rains, even if you don't care for it, remember that even though it may be stressful for you, it's clearing the way for better times. Because after every storm, there is a rainbow.