Let it Rain

As I prepare for my move, I find myself appreciating things that I have taken for  granted all my life. It's autumn now, so the rains are here. Oregonians are funny about the rain. We all complain about it when it's here but, when we had over 100 days without rain this summer, we freaked out about that. So, the rains are here and we complain about them the way a wife complains about her husband of fifty years. 

For me this year, the rain feels different. Maybe it's because I know I'm about to move to a place where 100 days without rain is the norm not the exception. Maybe it's because it makes me nostalgic for rainy afternoons when I was a kid; curled up in a corner in my parents home with a book and a cup of tea, and the sound of the rain to accompany my journey with Alice into Wonderland, or with Ramona or Elizabeth and Jessica (yes, I read Sweet Valley High when I was a tween). To me the rain sounds like peace, contentment, and safety. Of course, I never thought about that until I was faced with the prospect of leaving it behind.

It's not just the weather that I'm appreciating. People have become hugely important. After thirty-seven years, I have definitely developed some relationships. People that I love like family, that I have taken for granted for years, I find myself going out of my way to spend time with. Not that I haven't always loved them but, I always assumed that there was plenty of time to spend time with them... I'm down to five weeks. So, I'm trying to get time in with everybody I can. Oddly enough, with all the writing that I do, and all the time I spend familiarizing myself with the English language, when I try to find the words to tell people how much I love them, how much I appreciate them and, how much I'll miss them, I don't know words that express that as strongly as I feel it. 

So, if I'm going to miss so much about here, why am I leaving?

I am looking forward to warmer winters and drier springs. But more than that, I am looking forward to being with my husband. All this time away from him has made me appreciate him all the more. He is complex, crazy, brilliant, funny, sensitive, and sweet. He's also loud, stubborn, opinionated, abrasive and, can be just a bit obnoxious. He challenges me, pisses me off, makes me laugh, makes me cry, and loves me more than I ever thought possible. Even after twelve years he can still surprise me. I would follow him to the end of the earth if it meant we got to be together so, L.A. just isn't that bad.

But in the meantime, bring on the rain.