The Rain It Raineth Every Day

February 25, 2023

Hello from sunny Los Angeles! Is what I would say if it weren't 45 degrees and pouring. A leak started in my bedroom ceiling the night before my flight so I spent the early hours of Thursday morning thinking "thank god I'm going to LA, where nothing leaks and the weather is consistent." Cut to two days and one 15 hour flight delay later and I'm listening to the drip drip drip of rainwater from my parent's kitchen window into an assortment of glass and plastic vessels as a massive storm washes into the LA River outside. For those unfamiliar with the mighty Los Angeles River, it's usually an empty channel that wends a barren path through the valley down to Long Beach and the open ocean. To see it near overflowing its banks as storm water roils and tumbles past at incredible speeds feels to me like catching a glimpse of the Rio Porciúncula before its seasonal cycles were walled in by concrete.

Last night was my father's birthday and we braved the heavy rain and ghost-calling winds to celebrate at the local Italian place. He had received some bad news from work as we drove home from the airport earlier that day and my mother was worried that dinner would be a grim and stilted affair. Instead I think it was just what my dad needed to take his mind off of all the decisions he would need to make in the near future. The power flickered off for a few minutes as we perused the menu, but the food still arrived hot and delicious.

It's going to rain for the rest of the week. I find myself not really minding.