How do you feel about rainy days? Do you love them or loathe them?
For me, it’s a bit of both. I adore rainy days when it’s the weekend and I can stay inside and be warm and cozy, listening to the pitter-patter on the roof. On the other hand, I hate wet days when I have to get in the car and commute. Life suddenly seems fraught with peril when you are navigating the massive flooded spots on the freeway.
Today was a real whopper, rain-wise. Northern California got slammed with the worst fall storm since 1962, according to the people who measure these things. It’s not unusual to have rain here, even heavy rain, but it usually doesn’t come until January or so. I think a lot of us were unprepared.
It was a tense day: lots of white-knuckled driving and muttered prayers, lots of splashing through puddles and cursing my totally inadequate, cheapo umbrella which was doing the Mary Poppins thing in the wind. The fabric has pulled away from two of the spokes, which caused one of my female students to say, with equal parts pity and amusement, “Ms. Moyer! Look at your umbrella!”  I wish I’d thought to say, “Don’t you think the school district should pay us more?”
I also cast many anxious looks at the ginormous eucalyptus trees right over my classroom, which were swaying crazily in the gusty wind. I’m no expert, but any faceoff between a massive tree trunk and the roof of a portable building is bound to end badly for the latter. Thankfully, though, falling bark and leaves were the worst we had to face.
And now: well, now it’s finally calm ouside. The rain seems to have stopped and the gutters are no longer overflowing their banks.  I’m home, warm and dry, not the worse for wear. I’ve officially made it through the first storm of the season.
But I am definitely replacing my umbrella.
Renoir, Les Parapluies
