09 November 2008

I miss the shiny



there were two rainies and one shiny today, mama. that's what ezra said to me last week. meaning it rained twice and the sun came out once. it's true, the rain is here. we are currently experiencing our first long stretch of rain here in the great city of portland. and I'm okay. I think. actually, I cried like a baby the first few days and then ward said I was absolutely not allowed to break down this soon into it. the rains have only just begun. so I made a decision: I am meeting it halfway. I'm making a concerted effort. I'm taking the advice so many portlanders have given me in the past and I am getting out in it. the other day, I rode my bike in the rain. which was a mess. my feet kept slipping off the pedals and it was freezing and I couldn't see half the time (what with all that rain in my eyes) but I'll tell you, it felt pretty good. I rode for as long as I could take it, something like a very pathetic seven minutes (if that) but next time I'll go for longer. and I'll remember to wear my fingerless gloves plus maybe a raincoat. but first, I will have to buy a raincoat.

I'm not going to pretend like I don't miss the shiny. the sun comes out every once in a while and I stop everything (and I mean everything) to acknowledge it. I call out the arrival of the sun like a lunatic, like we've not seen it in a hundred years. SUN! SUN! and everyone in the house freezes, unsure of what their next move should be. what should we do? go outside? lay down in it? sing a song about it? and before we can decide, it's gone. just like that.

nothing to do but get on that bike and ride.

27 comments:

  1. I'm going to call sunny days 'shinies' now! so cute! love it!

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  2. I hate to admit that this post made me miss my wonderful PDX all the more. Good luck meeting the season half way. I'll be doing the same with the snow, terrible snow, out here in NY.

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  3. The advice you've received is exactly how you have to deal with the rain. I've lived in Seattle my entire life and I love it.
    Get into candles, light your fireplace, go play in it, take up coffee drinking, find a pair of cute rain boots...just don't buy an umbrella.
    If you walk around with one, it's a sure tell-tell sign your a transplant. ;)

    a.

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  4. I am wondering how long your rainy season goes on for? we don't ever get more then a week of rain at a time and that would seem like a lot of rain for us here in Hawke's Bay.

    I think that is why I love the rain, we get just enough.

    If you get a lot it is probably a good idea to meet it half way, just thinking now of what you can do to make the most of it...

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  5. oh, this reminds me of the two dreadful years I spent in Detroit! No shiny days and piles of snow for 7 months of the year. I sobbed and wailed when I would see the sun on tv, like it was my long-lost mother.

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  6. I love the paintings in the photo! Go wrap some rubber bands around your bike pedals to help with the slipping -- I read that's what they do in Copenhagen. Hang in there :)

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  7. I feel for ya, Girl!
    I lived in Portland in the 90's. Before I left NYC, everyone warned me about the lack of the shiney.
    Well, I arrived in October, and I swear it rained every day for three months. I could not believe it. Crazy. I was amazed weather could actually do that. Then, I got used to it. I was single without child then, so I could crawl into bed with or without my love, a book, glass of sherry, whatever. I could walk down to the Bagdad or wherever...and yes, I learned to appreciate the rainey.
    Blessings to you. The bike rides sound delicious.

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  8. this post made me smile. I love your little boy's words for the weather.
    I don't think I would deal very well with a lot of "rainies". But it sounds like you got the right idea - just get out in it and appreciate the sunny days even more.
    Here we are actually lacking in rain, which is fine by me, but the plant life suffers for it.

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  9. I would bottle up some Alabama "shiny" and send your way if I could. I start getting the winter blah's with the time change each year...I can't imagine if I had to deal with monsoon season too. :)

    By the way, I hear the Victory Vintage store in Decatur, GA is no more. I found your blog in a round about manner after loving your husbands mural there. I hate to see the store is gone...but i REALLY hope that awesome mural stays. (I always drive past it when I visit my Dad and wish it were painted on my kitchen wall).

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  10. a perfect metaphor for how to approach life. (buy a shiny raincoat.)

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  11. I love this post so incredibly much, not least of all because of "rainies" and "shiny"... I love your son's descriptions!

    Your writing is so honest and engaging (like your anniversary post!) I think I'd struggle with a lot of rainies too (winters in the midwest-mostly grey skies for months on end- were a struggle for me growing up) But hurray for meeting it halfway!

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  12. oh all i can hear is freedie singing "i love to ride my bi-cycle, i love to ride my bike. " oh i get the the blues (S.A.D.) this time too. must go get me a bike. oh wait all it does here is snow. crap!

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  13. I miss the shiny, too. I drive a convertible. Whenever it is not raining, I put the top down. If it is not raining hard and I am driving on a highway or freeway, I still put the top down. Can't get enough of that shiny.

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  14. We have long months of rain here too.
    I get tired of it but it takes me a while.I love the sound of rain on my roof when I am trying to fall asleep.
    Right now it is shiny.

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  15. yes...i think we all need 'you are just not allowed to break down...' ultimatums at times. sometimes we need and MUST lose our s***, but other times...other times we need the finger under our chin and the words of someone that loves us...bolstering us up yet one more time...until the shiny (whatever that may be for each of us) returns.

    go ward.

    :)

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  16. My family and friends here in CA are going to weild this post over me in so many ways after they read the announcement I just made in my blog. Yikes.

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  17. I think that Ezra has given us all a wonderful new addition to our vocabulary.
    And I love the painting of the shiny - make the shiny indoors if the outdoors can't do it!

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  18. No shiny here either, on the English/Welsh border. It rained all 'summer' too, and we still can't get used to it. Getting out in it is right- after all, once you're wet through, you can't get any wetter, right? Just keep singin' in it is my motto...

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  19. As I am a curly hair girl. We mostly hate the rainies because it destroys silky wonderful spirals and curls and turns them into wiry,frizzy horribles. But, I loves me a decorated umbrella. Maybe with sparkly beads sewn on the outer rim. Or silk (or whatever they make those things out of) flowers!
    And, big old sweaters of Irish wool and warm fuzzy yarns in bright colors.
    And rain means ferns! And ferns mean fiddleheads! Someone cheer me up when it's 40 below here in Chicago!

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  20. Rain-X Shortlist

    • My son sparked my interest in mushrooms and now we run out in the rain all the time to see "what's up." A good guidebook is all you need. Plus, mushroom portraiture is awesome!
    http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2744430190104229602qNWakL
    • Vitamin D and those Veralux lights - they really do help. It's a warm sunny feeling - ahhhh.
    • A piggy bank with a rainy day fund - for a trip south in February, Because that's usually when you CAN'T TAKE ONE MORE DRIZZLY DAY!
    • My personal fave: Bath & Body works coconut verbena. I get those room Wallflowers that kinda waft it around. All of a sudden, I'm back to the beach, slathered with suntan oil (in the 70's.) Drink w/ umbrella optional.

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  21. i don't know you, but you inspire me through your art and your optimism.

    thank you.

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  22. Oh, you've spoken from the bottom of my heart! I grew up in Germany (you know why it's so green!?!) and now am lucky to be lolling about in southern california sun, where we now should be performing raindances, we're so low on water. Still, when it finally does rain, I turn into a pitiful heap of misery instead of being thankful. Next time I'll try the bike routine!

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  23. I've found just the thing for your cold and nasty rides! Check it out:

    http://www.amazon.com/Wigens-Leather-Rabbit-Klas-Bomber/dp/B000JVHRJ2

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  24. This post gave me warm fuzzies, I will now use the term "shiny" on all bright sunshiny days ahead.

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  25. I know! I know!

    I just keep thinking - make friends with the rain make friends with the rain make friends with the rain.

    It's hard to ... but polka dot rainboots help.

    (Seattle here)

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  26. We're near Portland, too, on the outskirts, and before this we lived near Seattle for 8 years. I don't do well with the winters. Your post of Sun Panic was right on. Sun Panic, Sun Guilt over the Sun Holes...

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  27. Ack! You don't have a raincoat and you live in Portland???! No wonder you feel miserable! Invest in a nice northface, buy some galoshes, and wander around in some rainy rose gardens!!

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