With the kind assistance of our visiting niece, we put away the Christmas paraphernalia yesterday. We literally have three large storage bins of indoor decorations, less than half of which were deployed.
There is another box of outdoor lights. And yet another containing the artificial tree. Christmas trinkets and decor seems to accrue like tree rings, more "stuff" every year piled atop the old stuff.
Likewise, it is time to pause listening to Christmas music of the serious variety. I really like the old carols that were traditional (i.e., old) when I was little, too many decades ago. Most of the recent Xmas tunes don’t hit the right note. Like the ornaments it will reappear again after Thanksgiving.
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It was raining when I awoke this a.m., obviously a very rare occurrence in the desert. I'd say it rained steadily for at least 2 hours. No downpour but more than a sprinkle. I enjoyed it, something I once would have deemed impossible.
My history with rain has been a sort of bell curve. As a kid growing up in SoCal rain was unusual and I liked it, especially in our attic where the sound on the roof was a particular favorite.
In my late 20s I moved to Oregon for grad school and spent three school years in Eugene at the south end of the Willamette Valley. I quickly got my fill of rain there. Like a kid overeating a favorite food to the point of discomfort, I OD'ed and got sick of it.
I remember more than one 14 day stretch when I never saw the sun. OR didn't rain continuously or all that hard, but it rained some everyday and when not raining it was threatening rain. I spent three years where my umbrella was seldom out of my hand when outdoors. It was literally depressing.
Since leaving Eugene, I've only visited rainy places, and have reacquired my taste for rain. The years we had a series of six RVs rain on the roof of the RV was nice, seldom heard west of the Rockies but not uncommon in the Midwest and South in summer where thunderstorms are a summer afternoon phenomenon as the rain hammers the roof and windows.
So this morning rain was once again nice.
