(This was originally posted on my facebook on May 20, 2011. But since it was written as a "test-blog", I wanted to post it here as well.)
I have come to a very important conclusion. Growing up in a small(ish) town in the desert has left me unequipped to handle any other type of weather. Specifically, rain.
I decide what to wear based on what I think the weather will be like that day. I really do. But in the desert, it hardly ever rains. Even if its supposed to. So I get up in the morning, and my thought process goes like this: is it raining outdoors? And depending on that answer, I dress appropriately. If it is actually raining when I wake up, I am very diligent about wearing a coat, hat, and sensible shoes.
However, clouds do not figure into this. If I wake up, and it is cloudy, my brain processes that as "no rain." Doesn't matter how ominous or dark the clouds are. Because in my small(ish) desert town often got clouds, and rarely got rain. Here, however, in the country's bread basket, it rains all the freaking time. Here, it's more like, if there is a single, fluffy, cute cloud in an otherwise clear blue sky, it will probably rain later today. Which is why I ended up wearing cute, completely not rain appropriate shoes and clothing to work for most of this week, and, at the end of the day, got quite wet while walking in the rain to get to my car.
And if you know me, you probably know that I am not a fan of rain. At all. Ever. (Unless I am indoors and completely dry, and have no intention of leaving wherever I am until the rain is over and everything is dry again.)
The ironic part of this is, there was a time in my small(ish) town years that I paid rapt attention to the weather predictions, and would dress for rain if there was more than a 30% chance there might be water falling from the sky. This is probably connected to my "rain boots," which were a pair of black, knee-high boots that laced and zipped and looked generally amazing. In reality, the possibility of rain was just an excuse to wear my uber goth boots. (As if you could keep them off me at that time in my life.)
But I started dressing more like Audrey Hepburn, and less like a member of Evanescence. It seemed like my preparation for rain slid away as those boots were no longer my go-to fashion choice. I still have the boots, but they rarely emerge from the closet, because they don't really fit any more. Although, now that I think of it, I bet I could just loosen the laces a bit...
I also blame my small(ish) desert town for my completely irrational concepts of distance. I have no understanding of mileage. The town was small enough, and enough removed from the "big cities" that longer trips were measured in a matter of hours, instead of actual distance. Because of this, I find car trips of 2-8 hours to be a bit of a hassle, but completely acceptable for special occasions.
Conversely (and this is the bizarre part,) my town was large enough to provide most of life's necessities, and everything was in a 20 minute radius. So the idea of driving further than a few miles for a meal, or to visit for a few hours with a friend is very hard to grasp. If I'm going to drive an hour somewhere, I expect a full day's worth of activities, perhaps a slumber party, and tasty things. This makes living in Kansas City rather awkward, where everything seems to be a minimum of 20 minutes away.
I have several friends who live in Independence and Liberty, which are about 45-60 minutes away, depending on traffic. And as much as I love these friends, I truly dislike the drive. It feels so unsatisfying to drive all that way for a brief meal or to watch a movie.
And then I have to drive home. Usually in the rain.
I have come to a very important conclusion. Growing up in a small(ish) town in the desert has left me unequipped to handle any other type of weather. Specifically, rain.
I decide what to wear based on what I think the weather will be like that day. I really do. But in the desert, it hardly ever rains. Even if its supposed to. So I get up in the morning, and my thought process goes like this: is it raining outdoors? And depending on that answer, I dress appropriately. If it is actually raining when I wake up, I am very diligent about wearing a coat, hat, and sensible shoes.
However, clouds do not figure into this. If I wake up, and it is cloudy, my brain processes that as "no rain." Doesn't matter how ominous or dark the clouds are. Because in my small(ish) desert town often got clouds, and rarely got rain. Here, however, in the country's bread basket, it rains all the freaking time. Here, it's more like, if there is a single, fluffy, cute cloud in an otherwise clear blue sky, it will probably rain later today. Which is why I ended up wearing cute, completely not rain appropriate shoes and clothing to work for most of this week, and, at the end of the day, got quite wet while walking in the rain to get to my car.
And if you know me, you probably know that I am not a fan of rain. At all. Ever. (Unless I am indoors and completely dry, and have no intention of leaving wherever I am until the rain is over and everything is dry again.)
The ironic part of this is, there was a time in my small(ish) town years that I paid rapt attention to the weather predictions, and would dress for rain if there was more than a 30% chance there might be water falling from the sky. This is probably connected to my "rain boots," which were a pair of black, knee-high boots that laced and zipped and looked generally amazing. In reality, the possibility of rain was just an excuse to wear my uber goth boots. (As if you could keep them off me at that time in my life.)
But I started dressing more like Audrey Hepburn, and less like a member of Evanescence. It seemed like my preparation for rain slid away as those boots were no longer my go-to fashion choice. I still have the boots, but they rarely emerge from the closet, because they don't really fit any more. Although, now that I think of it, I bet I could just loosen the laces a bit...
I also blame my small(ish) desert town for my completely irrational concepts of distance. I have no understanding of mileage. The town was small enough, and enough removed from the "big cities" that longer trips were measured in a matter of hours, instead of actual distance. Because of this, I find car trips of 2-8 hours to be a bit of a hassle, but completely acceptable for special occasions.
Conversely (and this is the bizarre part,) my town was large enough to provide most of life's necessities, and everything was in a 20 minute radius. So the idea of driving further than a few miles for a meal, or to visit for a few hours with a friend is very hard to grasp. If I'm going to drive an hour somewhere, I expect a full day's worth of activities, perhaps a slumber party, and tasty things. This makes living in Kansas City rather awkward, where everything seems to be a minimum of 20 minutes away.
I have several friends who live in Independence and Liberty, which are about 45-60 minutes away, depending on traffic. And as much as I love these friends, I truly dislike the drive. It feels so unsatisfying to drive all that way for a brief meal or to watch a movie.
And then I have to drive home. Usually in the rain.
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