Monday, March 26, 2012

"It Never Rains in California"

"IT NEVER rains in LA." But yesterday, it did. I haven't seen lighting or heard thunder in awhile, and it sent me shivering, although not quite in fear. At home in Michigan, I'd sit window side and watch the tallest trees sway and rain droplets fall and pierce  the soil. You can feel humidity in your lungs when it reaches 95 percent. You can see the atmosphere linger with its queasy-green heaviness. The Earth's about to sneeze.

The experience is different here in LA, and maybe that's a good thing. We all miss what we've grown up with, I certainly do; it's a pretty universal feeling of nostalgia, I suppose. But there's much to be enjoyed in walking across campus, Loyolan newspaper covering over my head, experiencing the slow drizzle that perpetuates through most of the day. Sometimes, it is nice to experience the unexpected. You can count on me to be unprepared - I've easily grown much, much accustomed to many sunny, warm days.


When it rains in LA, things flip upside-down. People get frantic. Mud slides. Hair frizzes and poofs (mine did, without fail). The walls come down. People can be caught at their worst moments. I teasingly joke with my friends that "Californians don't know how to drive in the rain" although it's started to sink into me as well. Hydroplaning, right? I fear the day I may have to face driving in the snow again...

Thank God for the rain. It's a disappointment and it's a relief. It's like a facelift for the pavement. It may grow dark and cloudy, but it's the city's best way to become brighter. The rain reminds me of home, until I remember: I am home, here in Los Angeles.


- Jennifer Pellerito
(photo credit: tanakawho via flickr creative commons)

7 comments:

  1. I really like this post! It's funny because I am not from here either and therefore previously thought I missed the "being unable to function when it rains in L.A." gene that people say Angelenos have, but because I am so used to beautiful, sunny weather, I get all the more frustrated when it rains. I agree with your last two paragraphs, well said! Today at work, one of my co-workers was on the phone with someone, very frustrated about the fact that someone hit his car in the parking lot today. He ended the conversation by grumbling, "people in this city can't drive when it rains."

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  2. I love when it rains in L.A. it is such a treat! the hydroplaning comment made me laugh because that is always my top complaint of driving in the rain, it almost always happens to me! I love how when it rains in Los Angeles it is described as a storm, when 99% of the time it is really just a light drizzle! I really enjoyed this blog post!

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    1. Thanks! There is always this one turn outside my apartment complex that I tend to take quickly - and I always slide when there's rain. Hydroplaning! We forget how to adjust when it rains...

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  3. Well done, Jenn! People in LA definitely do not know how to deal with rain, and on a scarier note, it seems like California's infrastructure wasn't built to handle it either. I remember standing in a back yard on that day it rained, and noticing that their was no draining system set up on the house whatsoever. Over the course of the next 5-10 minutes, I watched the puddle slowly crawl up onto the patio and get closer and closer to running right into the house. Then the rain let up and it was fine, but it got pretty close to doing some damage.

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    1. I enjoyed reading this post, and I feel the same way about a lot of this! The rain definitely is different here than it is in my hometown, which is near a place known for its rain, Seattle. The rain itself looks, smells and feels different, but people dress differently for the rain here too -- there are far more umbrellas and far fewer raincoats in L.A. It definitely seems like people in L.A. don't know how to handle the rain, but they also don't know how to love rain, either. Rain always seems to put a damper on people's day here (no pun intended). I doubt there are many Los Angelenos who could say the chorus from a song by Charlotte Martin accurately describes them: "Every time it rains, I know it's good to be alive."

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    2. I am stubbornly refusing to buy rain boots, I just don't believe it rains enough here to qualify the purchase! But every time it rains I wish I had a pair! It's a dreadful cycle.

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  4. I really liked your post, it illustrated the chaos that is rain in California. As you pointed out, it's not too often that we get rain here, so for most natives it can be a bit of a shock to the system, and takes some adjusting. Stay dry out there!

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