There’s a saying, if you want to learn about an area – just drive there. When I was first driving down here having no clue where I was going, and not quite making it on u-turns even in my tiny little Scion, everyone was patient and let me figure things out and go. No horn honking, just patience. There’s a driving style of “eh, I’ll just wait a little bit longer – it’s not that big a deal” – quite a contrast with say… New York City and Chicago. Heck, people in Houston actually obey signals that throttle traffic entering freeways during rush hour as if to realize the communal benefit of obeying such mechanisms.

Now you can make a strong argument this is out of fear of the law or personal safety (as a concealed handgun is permit practically comes with Texas driver’s licenses). However, when push comes to shove, you realize people down here would rather maintain their own lives and work together as individuals to accomplish larger goals rather than wait for other seemingly external forces to do things for them. As with anything, there are exceptions but this is just part of why I love Houston culture – despite some of its shortcomings.

While our recognition of our interdependence has waned since Ike, there is still that culture of interconnectedness and working towards common mutually beneficial goals. We welcome our giant windfarm overlords and the $2/electric bill tax we all pay towards the construction of the infrastructure required to get that power to our neighbors.

As for rain, one of the best days of my life (mundane and metaphysically speaking) was on a day so wet that it felt like my feet were being eaten away by acid. Of course, being out in the rain for what eventually turned out to be 18 hours after an all-nighter didn’t help. I was conditioned as a child to believe such things would make me horribly ill, but no illness ensued. I’ve yet to sign up for tending to a booth anywhere since, but there’s other reasons for that .

We aren’t made to sit in antiseptic offices all day. I have a motorcycle and I enjoy riding when it’s cold out. I do bundle up, and I’m sure people think I’m some kind of masochist. As long as you don’t go numb (not safe), a little chill is invigorating. (Don’t enjoy riding in the rain, however. Definitely not safe on a bike.)

Great post.

I used to hate being caught out in the rain (not a water kid generally), but in the last few years I’ve been coming to appreciate standing under a light rain. We had some good rains the past week, and while it bogs down my walking commute, I do enjoy it more. Like you said, if there were no rains, we wouldn’t have a lot of what we do in the world.

As a garden retailer, it is more of a problem. It REALLY cuts into sales even though it is essential to the overall garden results.

On a personal level, I look at each day as a gift: “This is the day that the Lord has made.” “Today is a gift of the Goddess.”. There is a quiet beauty in the gentle rains we get here in Oregon.

The weather that I dread is extended cold that requires me to haul water for my livestock because their water tanks have frozen.

But I never caught many colds or flus, and in all honesty, I prefer walking in the rain without a cumbersome umbrella than with one.

Now I walk with an umbrella because it reminds me of a god I worship, but I still prefer rain-walking over that of just being in plain sunlight. We get so little rain here in Western Australia, I love it to pieces.

Once a human releases itself of negative expectations like ‘I will feel cold and wet which is bad,’ and instead simply adopts an, ‘I will get cold and wet,’ the simple honesty of connecting with these things starts to reveal itself.

Though I must admit I’m still learning how to do this on a 100F day when it’s 80% humid. UGH. Lol.