Rainy Day = Best Day

I get the impression that people in LA hate rain.  They don't really know what to do with themselves when it rains.  I have no problem driving in rain, but I don't like driving around people who don't know how to drive in rain.  I'm from Maine, people.  I mean, come on-- rain?  Try blinding snowstorms.  Now that's a challenge...one that I failed royally this past December, my car paying most of the consequences.

But rain?  IT'S THE BEST THING EVER!

I'm not saying that rain is the best thing ever for driving-- that first thing up there was just a comment on how under-appreciated rain goes in LA.  I mean, we all live in a desert out here; shouldn't we be glad for a little hydration now and then?

I really do love rain though, even when I'm not living in a desert as dry as your mouth after eating 7 saltine crackers in 60 seconds (actually I think that's technically impossible...).  It's really peaceful.  Even torrential downpour has this odd serenity to it.  I love sitting inside and listening to the rain beat on my house.  It makes me feel really cozy, something I never really thought I'd feel in my LA house...it's just not a cozy place...nice, but not cozy.  Rain does lots of positive things for my psyche.

Rain makes me want to go for a run.  I feel super intense when I get soaking wet from a run in the rain.  I get back and feel like I accomplished so much more than I did because I'm covered in nature (nature being rain in this case- not leaves or something like that- I don't run through treetops when it's raining...).

Here we are.  Playing cards (I don't think it's poker though).

Rain makes me want to play cards.  Poker, specifically.  I couldn't tell you why.  I think it might have something to do with the fact that I used to play poker a lot with my family at our place where we go in the summer, which I associate with rain for some reason...maybe because it's by the ocean or something.  But today I had no one to play with- so I went to the beach.

There's something great about going places in the rain that were not made to be experienced in the rain...like the beach...specifically the Santa Monica Pier, which has a whole little theme park-type thing going on.  The beach itself is also cool when it's overcast and rainy, because it's got this really intense air about it, like the ocean might just swallow you whole.

The waves don't look quite as crazy-big here as they did in real life.

When I first got the beach, I knew it had been a good idea.  I was going to park in one spot when a guy who was leaving his spot came to my window and told me that he still had an hour and a half on his meter and I could park there if I wanted.  IT'S A SIGN!  I thought.  I knew it was a good idea!

The water was full of leaves and things the wind blew into it from the shore

It was really fun to walk barefoot in the sand (even though it was damp) and walk around in the water (even though my pants got all wet) while enormous waves crashed in layers of surf and the wind blew like crazy.  That's the other thing about the beach when it's rainy.  It's always windy too, even if it's not windy in other parts of town, it's always windy by the ocean.  Which makes it all the more intense.  With all its intensity and simultaneous peacefulness, the ocean made me feel very pensive-- a nice thing to feel when there's nothing too deeply emotional going on in your life, so that was good.

After I'd walked around on the beach for a while, I went up to the pier and sat on a bench reading my book for a while, which was nice, because when I'm home I get so distracted by my computer that it's difficult to make myself read, even though I'd love to read SO much more than I do nowadays.

Here's the rest of my solo beach adventure:

A water fountain that couldn't handle the wind.

I kept seeing these tire tracks all over the beach...

Then I found the culprit (I think it's a lifeguard vehicle of some sort).

A seagull digging for scraps...birds are silly.

A disgruntled pigeon...I don't think he liked the weather.

Then, after my beachy fun, I went and had a piano lesson with a fun woman who I met through a friend here.  She's really great at improv piano, which is what I really want to learn how to do (just to be able to sit down and rock out with no music on a song I've never played before).  It was a really fun lesson and she gave me a lot of really good tips and encouragement.  Her main tip for playing the way she plays is to just have fun and not worry about playing for other people; just play for yourself.  "Let it rip," was the motto she gave me; it doesn't matter how many "clams" (bad notes) you hit; just play for the sake of playing.  It was also nice to have someone that talented tell me that she was impressed with my piano-playing skills.  I'm excited for our next lesson.  I think I could potentially get a lot out of lessons with this teacher...even though I'm only out here for another two weeks.