When they were little my children learnt the equivalent of the word “snow” in Spanish from a little made-up song I invented. The rhythm owed more to ad lib than to a lullaby template – if such thing exists – and the lyrics consisted only of one word: nieve. “Nieve, nieve, nieve, nieve, nieve. ¡NIEVE, NIEVE! Nieve, nieve, nieve. Were they the same age now I would not be able to create a tune like that. It has not snowed in London this winter yet.
But, my God, has it rained!
The usual metallic, azure winter sky has given way to a monochrome, monotonous grey. The white, fluffy stuff has been replaced by continuous cascades, urban waterfalls without a precipice from which to fall.
I turn left at the roundabout and drive on. The clouds keep getting milked (by whom? I don’t know) and the road slowly disappears as it gets swallowed up by the heavy downpour. My route takes me along the industrial estate. On either side stand the monuments to our modern life: warehouses where people of different nationalities and languages are in charge of making our dreams come true. The dreams of quick service, fast collection and delivery. I turn left at the end of the road and climb up the hill under which a train seems to have regurgitated its passengers. Out of the corner of my eye I see the crowd rush outside the station before realising they will probably need a boat to cross the road. I bet that was not included in the train fare. The street to my right dips away from the train station. That is my short cut. I can see, however, that other drivers have had the same idea. I suddenly think that there is no antonym for short cut when confronted by traffic. Long cut?
I reach home and welcome the comfort it brings. I know that in other parts of the UK people will not have the same romantic view of the rain, nor will they sit down tonight to write a post about it. I consider myself lucky, but I do wonder if someone somewhere is watching a single, solitary, drop snaking down its windshield.
© 2014
Photo taken from the Evening Standard website
Next Post: “Sunday Mornings: Coffee, Reflections and Music”, to be published on Sunday 26th January at 10am (GMT)
Wow that is a ton of rain, trade you though as all we got is a ton of snow
ReplyDeleteand we got nothin'
ReplyDeletePortland is known for its rain, but for the last couple of years we've been in a drought and are now having day after day of sunshine. I tell you it is rough. :)
Sigh. And I would LOVE to see rain again. The weather boffins predict it, but they lie. We get incontinent pigeon rain - splat, splat and its gone.
ReplyDeleteWe have no snow in the Midlands... yet. I've been lucky to avoid the flooding though! I enjoyed reading this post, I liked the thread of humour running through.
ReplyDeleteWhat an absolutely fabulous picture, it really captures that feeling of being in the rain. *envy* I appreciated the few days of mild sunny weather we had recently though and got a few things done in the garden, accompanied by a little robin who sat nearby.
ReplyDeleteWhat an absolutely fabulous picture, it really captures that feeling of being in the rain. *envy* I appreciated the few days of mild sunny weather we had recently though and got a few things done in the garden, accompanied by a little robin who sat nearby.
ReplyDeleteOh my - that is a lot of rain. Give me snow any day!
ReplyDeleteI am glad you appreciate your rain. Interesting how this seems to be a winter of extremes. We here in Midwest USA have EXTREME cold. Eastern USA at this moment has EXTREME snow. Australia has had EXTREME heat. And you with EXTREME rain. I do wonder what the summer will bring. Smiles!
ReplyDeletei'm glad you weren't on your bike when the rain started to pour down.. we didn't have any snow so far this year...lots of rain as well but not that heavy... seems like the weather is getting more and more out of balance
ReplyDeleteha we got the snow as well...and freezing weather...a high in the teens today...and it snowed a touch more this morning....rain is good for the earth though so i dont fret it...too much though will def wash out things though....
ReplyDeleteLos inviernos hay que pasarlos con lluvias, frío o nieve, con lo que me respecta encuentro que es un invierno muy duro de frío, pero ya los días son mas largos con lo cual uno se anima con ello.
ReplyDeleteUn abrazo.
I love a rain day, in moderation, of course. Don't want floods, but a strong downpour on a day when I can just be home reading, writing, watching a movie or just watching the rain. Love the coziness of this. I imagine that's why it feels so good to you to finally get home.
ReplyDeleteThe irony is that I wrote his post last weekend after going to Halfords. Yesterday we had a lovely afternoon. The sun was out (not for long, thouhg0> Then, back to the rain last night. :-)
ReplyDeleteGreetings from London.
I love your viewpoint on the rain. Always great to get home isn't it?
ReplyDeleteYou could teach your children the word for snow if you lived in Wisconsin (where I live)! It seems that rain and cloudy skies are synonymous with London. Stay dry my friend.
ReplyDeleteyeah I Heard the rain was amazing there! OMY!
ReplyDeleteBut only I want arrive the autumn I dont like hot time, only is nice can swim, xx
Very charming - there is something extremely contemplative about precipitation--especially if one is under cover and warm!
ReplyDeleteI lived in England about a year a long time ago. It was the fall, winter, spring, following a summer famously reported as a record drought. However, by December, there had been normal rainfall for the year! It was quite hard on me - I can only imagine what it must be like from someone from Cuba! (I was brought up in the DC area, which is mild, but not comparable!)
It has been below 7 or 8 Farenheit all the past week where I am and negative 10 and 12 each night. Today though, looks like we may get over 10!
Thanks so much for your thoughtful visits and your own very thoughtful writing. k.
Yes...we ARE taking a battering, aren't we?!
ReplyDeleteI am sitting here at the computer right now, with an absolute deluge going on outside. We've had claps of thunder, the lights keep dipping (so I guess the power will close off any minute), and the patio in under water.
Yet still I see beauty in the rain - not so sure I would if I lived in Devon or Cornwall though!
Thank you for this shared experience...do you think the rain will EVER end though? *smiles*
Thanks for your comments. Another deluge today in the afternoon and yet the morning was so lovely even though the sun was still too shy to come out! :-)
ReplyDeleteGreetings from London.
Since I am reading this a few days late, I hope things have dried out a bit. A couple of years ago our area was hit with heavy flooding--it is not surprising that everyone pays much closer attention now to rain levels and forecasts.
ReplyDelete