boston blues

yesterday it rained in la jolla. it was a light, feathery rain, with the sun hidden just behind a layer of grey clouds. but it was still warm, and slightly humid, and it smelled of damp spring. i was reminded of a boston april, where the streets are wet as usual but it was no longer the biting cold of the winter, and riding a bike will get the bottoms of your pants wet, but not so wet as if there were puddles everywhere. my glasses gathered a thin layer of raindrops - each one still an individual droplet, so that i could see where i was going but everything was distorted like through smoky glass.



i went to trader joes on my bike, and the whole ride smelled, sounded, felt like i was in cambridge again, riding down memorial drive, or going to the commons through the esplanade. but not quite so beautiful, i guess. maybe it strikes me the most because in five years you learn to appreciate the brief period of time each year when the weather's actually nice, and when you don't mind riding through wet streets because there's just too much life emerging from the city to mind. and when i saw the people at trader joes, pausing at the door to unfurl their umbrellas and tighten their raincoats i wanted to laugh and say, what's a little drizzle on your hair? enjoy the breeze, enjoy the water now and then. if you hide under plastic all the time, how do you know you're alive?