Rain

I have never liked rain. It distresses me and gets me down. I like sunshine and blue skies.

I remember back in 1991 when my father was in intensive care and odds were he would die on a cold, rainy February day. I was looking out the window of the hospital and thinking what a shitty day to die, when I realized there really is no good day to die.

Long about 1965 my friend Cal and I were on an extended, full month navy deployment to the Philippines. It was during a monsoon season. That whole 30 days it never stopped raining. It would lighten up for a bit and then it would pour. We were billeted in an old barracks, with no air conditioning and had these old jalousie windows that cranked open. The inside of the barracks was constantly damp. The only difference between inside and outside was that inside there was no water hitting my head. Trying to sleep was like being in a swamp. It was amazing that all of my uniforms didn’t turn into mold. The only time we dried out was when we climbed aboard the plane for our overnight patrols in the gulf of Tonkin. The constant rain bothered me then, now it would make me crazy. I have to salute those army guys and the marines who patrolled in the jungles of Vietnam, sleeping in the rainy, steamy, creepy, crawly mess while trying not to get killed and at the same time trying to draw fire from their enemies.

Now, anywhere it rains constantly is out of the question for my living. I don’t care for the desert either. The upper northern climates are too cold for me. Southern California weather is ideal, but I cannot afford to live there. One of the reasons we left California was so I could have a house and a few acres of ground and I did have that for 27 years. The climate here is plenty good for me. That leaves me to think I am in the right place, right now and I am happy to be here.