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September 22, 2007
all rainy in a day
it's raining, quite beautifully, here in parched Los Angeles. it began to fall late yesterday evening, and the scene outside this morning is the complete opposite of that classic Ray Bradbury short story, "All Summer In a Day," where kids anxiously wait for the sun to come out after seven straight years of rain. here, in the perennially dry city, where no one ever makes alternate plans "in case of rain," the sky is pure blue with enormous, puffy clouds. still, the rain is coming down in a steady patter, and the air smells newly, softly clean, like the top of a newborn baby's head, as Bono would say.
the street outside my window is full of neighbourhood children who are deliriously splashing around in puddles, giggling their heads off. watchful parents make sure they are staying close to the sidewalk. all of them are wearing brightly-colored galoshes and one is carrying a giant umbrella that is bigger than his entire body. one is running in circles in his driveway, yelling, "it's rain, Mommy!" T.T. points out that for some of these kids, including the small boy with leprechaun-green rubber boots determinedly jumping over and over in one puddle, this may be the first serious rain they know. he called me outside yesterday when the first drops started falling, and we stood on the sidewalk, arms around each other, grateful faces upturned. "it's like a first snow," he said. "it should be acknowledged."
i'm tempted to go join the kids, but i don't need to. they are having good, safe, kid-version rain frolic. i already did the less-safe grown-up version last night. this consisted of bursting outside at midnight, no shoes or coat, and running all-out down the middle of the street, palms upstretched to the falling rain, and then having to abruptly swerve into a neighbour's lawn when an unexpected pair of headlights suddenly appeared in front of me. i had first jump of all those puddles the kids are now splashing in, and this makes me feel inexplicably smug. "ha!" i think. "i already jumped in your puddles and i was BAREFOOT! ha!"
of course, because i am a grown-up, i know what's in that water. when i went back inside i promptly scrubbed my feet down with hot water and plenty of soap. sometimes you have to be practical too...
Posted by hadashi at September 22, 2007 5:49 PM
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