Summer Rain

This summer has been brutal so far.

The Central Florida air does not move quite like the air did in Jacksonville which is a town on the coast. The air here sits thick and heavy, the sun unrelentless.

The one thing that improves a Central Florida summer is the reliable afternoon rain. It last a few hours every afternoon or evening. The air returns to being thick and hot pretty quickly after the rain.

But for a little while, during and right after the rain, it is actually quite beautiful. Here are some things I look forward to...

The mist rising off the hot black-top streets right after the rain has gone is quite lovely. I look forward to it, especially in the night being the headlights of my car. The mist lights up gracefully.

The short walks from a store front to the car without an umbrella, even in a heavy downpour is quite refreshing. The moisture evaporates off from the clothes easily. I just enjoy the cool sprays of rain made available improptu.

The sound of rain on a tin roof is probably universally loved. I have spent a few nights in campers, one of them being a thunderstorm from inside of an aluminium Airstream. It was my birthday night a few years ago. We were in the middle of nowhere in Escalante, Utah. It was simply memorable.

Tonight, we took a walk with our dog around a lake. It had rained recently, so the air was a little less humid than usual. The cool breeze coming off the lake intermittently was an extra icing. It made for a lovely walk.

Monsoon was my favorite time in India. It only rained four consequetive months of the year. The rain washed off all the dust and dirt that had been accumulating on trees, leaves, streets, and houses for eight months. The whole town got refreshed. The change was quite dramatic and beautiful.

The changes that summer rains in Florida bring are more subtle than the rain in India.
But the changes are just as beautiful.

Walking in the Rain

When you grow up in a country where it only rains a few months of the year, you typically learn to love the rain. Florida is a bit more generous with the rain than my home country. Unlike Seattle where it drizzles constantly, Florida will produce afternoon showers almost every other day. Rain can get old and boring fast. And it does quite reliably among most Floridians.

I went walking in the rain this morning. It was drizzling when I woke up, so the morning ritual of walking Olive around the block was out of question. I changed into my swimming shorts and an old cotton t-shirt, put on my hiking hat to keep the water out of my eyes and took off in the rain.

I walked a block to the lake which was quite full. The lake looks completely different in the rain. Quite different. As I was watching the otherwise calm surface riddled with rain, the droplets started sweeping across the surface in gentle arcs. The wind had picked up. My t-shirt was almost completely drenched. The rain started pouring strongly, shifting slightly in angle and intensity. A lightning flashed and it thundered just as I turned around to head back home. I was walking into the rain this time and it was cold. The water was cold and the t-shirt against my skin was cold.

I came home refreshed. Like one does jumping into a cold swimming pool first thing in the morning, a-la Tony Robbins.

You should try it.