Photo Friday: Atticus Splashes in Puddles

Jan. 12, 2016

Rain, Rain, Go Away

The rain showed no signs of letting up.

There I was, standing at the exit of my neighborhood Associated grocery store, watching it pour. I was a mere six-minute walk from home, but that kind of stroll feels much longer in pounding rain ... and I didn't have an umbrella.

Paul, who had a raincoat with a hood, made a run for it, but me in my silly wool coat (it wasn't raining when we left home!) stayed behind with about eight other shoppers, anxiously scanning the skies. Each time the rain let up in the slightest, it only seemed to rain even harder a few minutes later.

Rain. It's so much more of a hassle here in New York than it was in Ohio. It ruins plans. It prevents plans from being made. It makes me irritable.

This bout of rain started Friday, and the next day was joined by gusts of nearly 70 miles per hour. Havoc ensued, with trains delayed and thousands left without power. Even the Staten Island Ferry was halted for a time on Saturday night.

Paul and I hunkered down, not once leaving the apartment. An umbrella was no defense against a storm like this, and our car was parked about five blocks away. We were stranded.

In Ohio? No big deal. Living room to attached garage to vehicle to destination. Make a run for it in the parking lot. I rarely even bothered with an umbrella.

Back to the grocery store. I left my perch at the store's exit when the rain seemed to slow, only for it to come pouring down about half a block later. I found some shelter in a church's stairwell for a couple of minutes, and the rain slowed to a sprinkle.

Finally home. And I didn't leave the apartment all day.

New York's Rainy Day Market Economy

It has rained in New York nearly non-stop for the last month. And unfortunately I have been carrying around a broken umbrella that entire time.

Cheap umbrellas are easy to come by in both Manhattan and Brooklyn. Stop by any 99-cent store or knick-knack bodega and there's usually a pile of them somewhere near the door.

But while they're always cheap, at some times they're cheaper than others. Specifically, when it's not raining.

Umbrellas are $2 or $3 on sunny days when no one needs them. Those are the days to whip out a tenner and stock up.

But when it's pouring and the garbage cans outside are stuffed with inside-out umbrellas, that's when prices double or triple. Still not expensive, true, but enough more to make me think my own rapidly deteriorating umbrella can last just a little bit longer.

With so few sunny days breaking up the clouds, however, neither Paul nor I have gotten replacements. Paul's went past the point of no return last week and is now lining a trash bin somewhere in Brooklyn.

Mine's fading quickly. And the way this summer's going, I might just pull out a $20 bill the next time I replenish my stock of umbrellas.

Goodbye, Gray Skies

Today was the first time in a long time without any rain whatsoever. In fact, I've seen the sun more in the last two days than I have in the previous two weeks. Spring has finally arrived ... one week after the official start of summer.

I've seen a few downpours recently, but New York mostly has been treated to scattered showers. In the wake of a Friday evening storm that skipped over Bay Ridge, the skies over the neighborhood turned from dull gray to bright orange-purple-pink.

I'm a lucky New Yorker with actual views of the sky from my apartment window, so I barely had to leave the comfort of my couch to enjoy the view.