Rain

It's an odd thing here in New Orleans, the rain. The Big Easy is a swamp, so there's a lot of rain. Usually, it's warm rain. Usually, it comes down pretty hard, pretty fast. Sometimes, rain clouds wander through alone, so it can be raining on one side of the street and not the other for minutes at a time.

One time, I was garage-saling. One of my favorite things in the world. This was before Katrina, so I had over a dozen houses on that morning's list. It was sunny when I got in the car, then rained on the way to the first house, then sunny while I was actually at the sale, then rainy while I was in the car...all morning! I felt like the Rain Goddess, bidding the clouds to hold on a sec while I tried out the latest round of Corning Ware and bad '70s albums. As I recall, that was also the day I bought my Morticia Addams chair for only $15. So a great day, all 'round.

But today, the clouds were being mischievous, and when I poked my house out my front door, I just saw a few drops of rain on the sidewalk. I bolted for the car...and instantly got soaked. I mean, it's all of about five steps to my car from the front door. And the rain was cold, too!

October is my favorite month in New Orleans, all breezy evenings and falling leaves. I think New Orleanians look forward to Autumn the way most of the world welcomes Spring. Everyone is just so tired of the heat. Cold rain was irritating in the car, sure, but it almost promised a break from the relentless hot-humid of summer, as well as a chance, soon, to wear some of my hand-knitted sweaters!