I don't know how the weather is where you are since, well, I don't know who you are or where you are. But here in the northeast, we've been getting a lot of rain. And what does rain bring with it? Yes, puddles and people driving slowly - but more than that, it brings complaining - lots and lots of complaining. Why do people hate the rain so much? I think rain is wonderful. It sounds great, it smells great, it's completely necessary and useful. Sure, no one likes being wet when they get to work or home, but is that really such a problem? WHY is rain so inconvenient and why does it inspire such hatred? I love it, as I do a lot of things that are perceived to be dreary, which might be why my husband calls me Eeyore once in a while.
Now, I may have a couple of stuffed Eeyores... and, okay, I may have been Eeyore for Halloween sometime in my mid-20s, but I do not have a cloud following me. But, if I DID, I would still love the rain. Which brings me to this week's things I miss (which I missed doing yesterday but will instead do today).
Today's edition is inspired by the recent rain as well as Mother's Day.
Did your mother make you wear these things when it rained?
1. A slicker
When was the last time you heard the word slicker? I remember my mom using it but for the longest time now it's just been a raincoat. And why does it seem like they were always yellow (my least favorite color)? But these aren't the raincoats of today, made of water resistant fabric. No, no. These were basically plastic shaped into coat form. If it was a particularly crazy rain storm, you'd take this off and everything outside of the slicker's cover would be wet (your hands, ends of sleeves, and pants below the knee). But they did a good job most of the time.
2. Galoshes
No, not the cute patterned rainboots we all wear now (I have a powder blue pair that I love). These went on OVER your shoes and buttoned together at the top to hold them on (see picture). I HATED these things. I thought they were ugly then and I think they're ugly now - kind of like a cross between Uggs and Crocs! Why didn't we just have cute rubber shoes? Why did we have to put ugly rubber boots over our sneakers? They did work fairly well, except if you jumped in a puddle. Because they were relatively low and not sealed at the top, if you jumped in a puddle, much of the water got inside and your shoes got wet anyway, totally defeating the purpose. Not that I did this, Mom. I'm just saying I saw it happen to other people.
3. Clear umbrellas
I remember these as being particularly girly and feminine. Sometimes there would be a design (flowers or ribbons or Hello Kitty) on the umbrella, but it was always still clear enough to see through. They were also narrower and longer than traditional umbrellas, so when you put it over your head, it went down to your shoulders. Little girls could share one, but adults couldn't (unless it was huge). They seem to be making a resurgence and I think I want to get one.
Rain is one of the most incredible sense memory experiences for me. When it rains, I first think of the first college I attended, which was in the Lehigh Valley, aka the Leaky Valley because it rained so much. I can close my eyes and smell the rain in the fall or spring and am immediately brought back to that campus.
Next, I remember living on my own the past few years and walking Oreo in the rain, no matter how bad it was. I remember walking to elementary school (with all of the above gear), back when my friends didn't complain about the rain. I remember the house we lived in when I started high school; it had a screened in back porch with a sofa on it - the absolute perfect place to sit and enjoy a cool rain shower.
Oreo woke me up at 4:30am today to go out in the monsoon that was going on outside and, while I was not incredibly happy to go out at that hour, I still smiled as I got back into bed and heard the rain pounding down outside the windows in our bedroom. So rain, rain, don't go away. Stay again, another day.
Tuesday, June 9, 2009 at 12:12PM 
