Damn the Rain

It's raining in Houston. It has been for at least the last few days, maybe as many as 5 or 6 and will continue to do so for that many more. Hurricane season? El Nino? Whatever the reason, it sucks.
Well if I was watching movies all day in my bed with popcorn and soda, it would be perfect… But despite the cuddle-up-in-the-sheets weather this morning, when I awoke, I climbed out of bed and hydroplaned twice on the way to work. Luckily it was not across a major freeway like I did back in 2010 when I just about totaled my car, but still... The point is excessive rain.

So that got me thinking about rain and depending on what it is your day entails it can be very welcomed or very disruptive. Beyond that, generally speaking, it can be so comfortable or really inconvenient.

And that takes me back to New York City circa 2007-2008. That was the year I spent, after four years in the Bronx, on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Just off Broadway I had a tiny apartment I shared with a friend from back home. Each day we braved the streets of NYC and went about our dramatic first year out of the safety net of college.
The summer time in NYC is hot. 90 degrees in that concrete jungle is the Texan equivalent to 110 degrees… at least. They are experiencing this now and my heart sweats, aches for them.

But when it rained in the city... oh it was so lovely. It was as though, if only for a few minutes, at the start of a soft summer rain the city would slow down. It would relax its noise and calm the day.

Don't get me wrong, there is a fearless battle fought on the sidewalks of NYC between those with umbrellas and those without. Those without shamelessly losing that said battle when eye pokes and water running onto their head plague their routine walk to and from work. But none the less it takes a hot, heat-trapped summer day and makes it bearable if not little bit tranquil.

See the rain in New York in the summer is cold. In Houston it is a steamy, sauna feeling when it rains. (And when it doesn't for that matter.) The ground here is so hot I guess that even 10 degrees cooler won't make much of a difference. And the rain, the actual drops are warm, if not hot. They are little pellets of fire really that only add to the sweat of a normal July afternoon.

In New York the water falling from the Heavens is cool and almost sweet. It seems to freshen the day. It is like working out then taking a cold shower. The City heats up from the outrageous summer temperatures, and then a summer storm rolls in and cleans it of the salty mess it had become.

Maybe I'm just bitter today and missing my old stomping grounds. Maybe tomorrow I'll get out of work a little early and snuggle up on the couch with the BF to watch a movie… And then the flooding around the city will seem further away and less of a headache, but until then I'm going to remind myself of this: The rain in NYC may just be the ideal sweet, summer refreshment, but those nasty winter storms sure make up for Mother Nature's consideration during these summer months. And it’s at that time I will be very thankful for my current location in the warm wintered Houston, TX.

Stay dry my friends.

xoxo Sara Marie