Good morning, Readers!
Today is yet another rainy morning. It has been overcast and damp for what feels like a fortnight now. Most people complain.
Not I.
I adore this weather. The cold and the rain (and the snow) suit me just fine. I love the moods of days like this. I love the calm. I love the quiet, over which the soft patter of rain drops hitting the roof can be heard. I love the cold, which inspires warm tea and thick blankets. All of it makes me happy. It soothes me. This, for me is a perfect day.
Today is yet another rainy morning. It has been overcast and damp for what feels like a fortnight now. Most people complain.
Not I.
I adore this weather. The cold and the rain (and the snow) suit me just fine. I love the moods of days like this. I love the calm. I love the quiet, over which the soft patter of rain drops hitting the roof can be heard. I love the cold, which inspires warm tea and thick blankets. All of it makes me happy. It soothes me. This, for me is a perfect day.
Image from Tiptoe Butterfly. Click for link.
I'm one of those weird people.
I like the calm times, the darkening times, the in between times. Autumn is my favourite season. My favourite kind of weather is cool and rainy. I am enamoured by dawn and dusk... mostly dusk though, as I rarely see dawn. I also happen to love sleep.
I knew I couldn't keep this post serious for long. Sigh.
The point is, I hear people complaining about the day and I raise my brows at them. This weather is beautiful. It might not be convenient - I chaffed at having to use a bus ticket to get to work this morning. It might mean extra care is taken with wardrobe in the morning. But it is still beautiful.
I think I can trace back my love of the rain to growing up in Australia. We lived in a semi-arid region of Australia. Travel the hour and a half it took to get to the coast, and you would be in the tropics. Alas, the Mingela Range generally stopped all but the most determined clouds from crossing and, so, we lived in almost perpetual drought.
The days were bright and sunny and hot. Sounds like heaven to most people, I know. I was not really a fan. However, it did set the stage for some spectacular storms.
My memories of that time are not happy ones. My family was slowly falling apart around me. I was a loner and outcast who had a closer relationship with a very climbable mango tree than I did with my peers. In fact, my two fondest memories are of that mango tree, and another tree that grew near a tiny brook that was created by a puncture in the town's water reservoir. Whenever I was upset or angry, which was often, I'd flee to those places to calm down.
However, when it rained, things were good. My family would cease to fight. We'd pour ourselves a cup of tea and head out to the veranda to watch the lightning and listen to the thunder all the while the rain pounded on the corrugated iron roof. When it was raining, we could all be in the same space and not one angry word would be spoken.
I've loved the rain ever since I can remember.
Admittedly, I've had a difficult time adjusting to the weather here. My first year, I was ill-prepared for the September snowfall that randomly happened. I had only an old, slightly too large for me leather jacket for warmth. No scarf. No hat. No gloves. I got frostbite on my ears that night. Also my first year here, I had a tough time adjusting to the reduced amount of sunlight I was getting. I had SAD (Seasonal Affect Disorder) for the first little bit, and it took me a while (read here: a couple of years) to realise what was wrong with me and how to fix it. Thanks to the University clinic for help figuring it out. I'm now careful to take vitamin D supplements during the darker days of the year, get enough sleep and pay particular attention to my moods.
Speaking of, did you know that a northern town in Sweden has installed light therapy lamps in their bus shelters to help people during the shorter days of the year? Man! Scandinavia knows how to treat people!
I digress.
The point is, this kind of weather and living in this kind of climate produces a specific set of challenges, but none of these challenges are insurmountable and despite them, or perhaps because of them, I find this climate to be breathtakingly beautiful.
Bring on the rain!
Ciao.
I like the calm times, the darkening times, the in between times. Autumn is my favourite season. My favourite kind of weather is cool and rainy. I am enamoured by dawn and dusk... mostly dusk though, as I rarely see dawn. I also happen to love sleep.
I knew I couldn't keep this post serious for long. Sigh.
The point is, I hear people complaining about the day and I raise my brows at them. This weather is beautiful. It might not be convenient - I chaffed at having to use a bus ticket to get to work this morning. It might mean extra care is taken with wardrobe in the morning. But it is still beautiful.
I think I can trace back my love of the rain to growing up in Australia. We lived in a semi-arid region of Australia. Travel the hour and a half it took to get to the coast, and you would be in the tropics. Alas, the Mingela Range generally stopped all but the most determined clouds from crossing and, so, we lived in almost perpetual drought.
The days were bright and sunny and hot. Sounds like heaven to most people, I know. I was not really a fan. However, it did set the stage for some spectacular storms.
My memories of that time are not happy ones. My family was slowly falling apart around me. I was a loner and outcast who had a closer relationship with a very climbable mango tree than I did with my peers. In fact, my two fondest memories are of that mango tree, and another tree that grew near a tiny brook that was created by a puncture in the town's water reservoir. Whenever I was upset or angry, which was often, I'd flee to those places to calm down.
However, when it rained, things were good. My family would cease to fight. We'd pour ourselves a cup of tea and head out to the veranda to watch the lightning and listen to the thunder all the while the rain pounded on the corrugated iron roof. When it was raining, we could all be in the same space and not one angry word would be spoken.
I've loved the rain ever since I can remember.
Admittedly, I've had a difficult time adjusting to the weather here. My first year, I was ill-prepared for the September snowfall that randomly happened. I had only an old, slightly too large for me leather jacket for warmth. No scarf. No hat. No gloves. I got frostbite on my ears that night. Also my first year here, I had a tough time adjusting to the reduced amount of sunlight I was getting. I had SAD (Seasonal Affect Disorder) for the first little bit, and it took me a while (read here: a couple of years) to realise what was wrong with me and how to fix it. Thanks to the University clinic for help figuring it out. I'm now careful to take vitamin D supplements during the darker days of the year, get enough sleep and pay particular attention to my moods.
Speaking of, did you know that a northern town in Sweden has installed light therapy lamps in their bus shelters to help people during the shorter days of the year? Man! Scandinavia knows how to treat people!
I digress.
The point is, this kind of weather and living in this kind of climate produces a specific set of challenges, but none of these challenges are insurmountable and despite them, or perhaps because of them, I find this climate to be breathtakingly beautiful.
Bring on the rain!
Ciao.
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