Rain

I grew up in Montana between fourth grade to 10^th grade and after having lived mostly in sunny California I adjusted over time to snow and freezing temps. I know that after living in Phoenix for a long time that I've become a weather wimp that complains easily about temps in the 30-40’s and rain. Yes, it does rain on occasion in the Valley of the Sun. The challenge is that traffic is horrible and too many drive like maniacs and accidents happen. I also know that with a little bit of steady rain that too often low areas flood, cars get stuck and unfortunate things happen.

I have to make a decision in a few hours as to whether we do tutoring tonight because of a little rain. I already cancelled a key event that was going to be outside at downtown ASU campus promoting an event next week. I knew this was a no brainer because it is actually raining presently and few students are going to stop and get a flyer for an event next week.

I met with a good friend that partners with me in doing community work and he is about 30 minutes late, which is ok with me writing. He grew up on the east coast where bad weather is just a fact of life, yet in the land of the sun few know how to navigate the roads or be dressed for wet weather. We had just been in Flagstaff over the weekend and could have used the snow that is falling today to make the little slopes for our kid’s sledding safer and more fun.

As I sit in 8^th Day Coffee and Culture I love looking out at the window at the grey sky, the continuing drizzle and people that have their hoodies covering their heads. I don’t like taking umbrellas with me and especially don’t like the hassle of having to put it up and take it down when it is wet. Yet, it really doesn’t take that much effort to live in the rain or even the snow. The challenge is that I’m spoiled with having almost perfect weather most of the year. I’ve become a softie and panic when the temp goes below 70 and start looking for a pullover or hoodie to wear.

Life has times when it rains and the chance of having little fender benders increases hugely. I know that most of my friends don’t plan on having accidents or hurting themselves by slipping on a wet sidewalk. Yet, when we were sledding last Saturday I knew that at least one of our 80 would either do a flip, slip or really whack their head. I just wanted to make sure that I wasn’t the one to get wacked or hurt. So this one teen does the flip thing and ends up hurting her little finger. She is almost in tears but sucks it up and ends up doing ok considering her natural inclination is to be more of a crybaby kid.

As I get ready to go out into the wild I know that I’m going to have to drive slower and definitely not text or take calls. It is so easy to become oblivious to the surroundings and miss something that ends up ruining your day because you rear end the guy ahead of you or the road is slippery and I slide a little when trying to stop. So enjoy the rain while it lasts!