Rain

I scampered into the R&D building this morning, and no sooner than I did, the sky loosed its fury in torrents. I think my heel got wet.

It rained today. It rained and rained and rained. It was most welcome, especially after the thick, haze-stricken week we had last week before it mysteriously disappeared. Wasn't it odd, how it was just suddenly .. clear? Almost crystal clear, at that.

I welcomed the rain for a very different reason, though. Simply put, I love the rain.

I love it when it rains. Sudden squalls, short showers, torrential thunderstorms, delicate drizzles - I love it all. I've never been afraid of thunderstorms, not even as a child. Sure, the sudden crack of thunder still startles me, but never frightens. When I was little I would sit at the window with my face right up against the glass panes, watching lightning strikes and rain fall. My grand-aunt would always pull me away for fear of my being struck by lightning. :o)

I love the smell of rain, I can smell it hours before it falls. It smells gorgeous; like fresh wetness. And I can always sense when it is just about to pour, there is a heaviness to the air, a palpable pressure, a sort of pressing anticipation. And the close steam that rises off the ground immediately after it rains, there are few better warmths.

Have you ever danced in the rain? It's liberating, for some reason, it is liberating. And the coolness of rain on your skin, it's beautiful. Now, I am a daughter of the Malaysian Sun through and through, and I can't really stand to be cold. I get cold very quickly, and air-conditioning for me has to be nothing lower than 23∞C or my fingers and nose go numb. I must have been a lizard in my past life. Cold makes me lethargic. But the rain. *shivers with delight*

The coolness of rain seeps into your skin, a delicate tinge that lasts long after you've dried off. And your skin always feels so .. different. So much softer, so much more .. gebu. And I've never experienced hair to ever be softer than after its been rain-washed.

I don't get to indulge in such heathen-like practises anymore, not here with the acid rain and shite. *grumbles* I'll always remember school holidays in Terengganu with my cousins, playing in the rain where it was relatively a whole lot cleaner. And at times when I unavoidably get caught in the rain, like yesterday, the sensations bring back a whole host of warm memories.

My favourite thing to do when it rains is Nothing. Absolutely nothing, but listening to it fall. I especially love listening to rain fall on aluminium awnings. Its so noisy! Perhaps it triggers some good feelings from some deep-buried memory of childhood, I know not, but I find its noise soothing.

I am quiet when it rains. It seems appropriate, giving the rain the reverence it's due. I love watching rain slide down glass panes. I love how the world outside suddenly becomes hushed and seemingly at peace, a brief reprieve from the bustling of an ordinary day.

If it rains when I'm at KLCC, I like to buy a book and sit at Kino's Book Club with a lovely double. If it rains when I am at home, I love to curl up in bed under the duvet and read a book with the curtains drawn back. The only thing I can think of that could possibly top that is being in bed, under the duvet, with a nice, warm other person to curl up to. Lol....

Its lunch-time now, and it's still raining, a lazy, mist-like drizzle. And while I should have been studying boring technical drawings of chassis components, I couldn't help but be mesmerized by the sound and the smell of the rain.

~ Thursday, 18th August 2005