Today was all rain. I woke up to it—sharp, irregular, sounding like hail—on the roof of the car. If it wasn’t 60 degrees, I would’ve guaranteed it was hail. It picked up quickly until it blocked everything else out. Sure, you could see well enough to drive, but you couldn’t focus on anything else. It was constant and unyielding. People acted normally, though, so I supposed these storms were normal for Louisiana.
I drove south. The locations weren’t important. The differences in the landscapes were washed out. Towns came and went, and still the rain came down, strong enough to flood the sides of the road. Water sprayed from every car’s tires, and occasionally it gathered deeply enough that small ponds formed on the highway. I was grateful for the free undercarriage wash.
I think the static pattern of the rain lulled me into its rhythm, because when it finally stopped at sundown, I became irritable. Every bit of stimulus was too much. In a parking lot, the car next to me blasted Chris Brown. I have no strong feelings regarding Chris’s music, but I could not think about anything else. I couldn’t disengage. I missed the rain. Is that meteorological Stockholm syndrome? I’ll have to ponder that tomorrow with a clearer head.
Doo — Doo — Doo — Doo…
“Rainy day — dream away,
Let the sun take a holiday —
Flowers bathe and I see the children play —
Sit back and groove on a rainy day.
Well, I can see a bunch of wet creatures —
Look at them on the run,
The carnival traffic noise it sings,
the tune splashing up —
Even the ducks can groove
bathing in the parkside pool
And I’m sitting here lookin’ out my widowsill
Digging everything …
And YOU too!” — Jimi Hendrix
I would have been irritable long before sundown if I were driving all day in the rain, so much rain that there were puddles on the road and trucks splashing me and the constant beating sound of the rain on the car. Sounds like torture, almost. Especially if not heading to a warm cozy place to get out of the rain and get some relief from the monotony. Thank goodness you do have something to look forward to this coming week. And I hope the rain will be done and over with so that you can enjoy being outdoors again. I’m glad to see that from what my iPad weather (NOAA) says, you are getting sunshine today. Enjoy the day!
Love, Grandma
Meteorological Stockholm Syndrome…new album name?