Winter is here, and it is wet
A sure way to start a heated debate in San Francisco–especially between locals and transplants–is to ask if we have seasons. The answers can vary between a solid No, to assertions that we have them but they are vague, undefined and recurring several times a year, to the idea that we have more than the usual four seasons, perhaps even as many as twenty.
Here is what I know: every December the rains come. They last for months with short hints of reprieve where the skies are only slightly less gray. They soak us to the bone and mist our glasses. Sometimes they lead to floods that punish the low-lying neighborhoods, especially south of SFSU.
The rains drive me to hermitism. I want to bunker down and weather out the storm. Eat comfort food. Watch videos. But that can only last so long. I find myself going through the classic steps of acceptance: denying the rain exists and avoiding carrying my umbrella. Getting angry at the rain. Depressed at the rain. Bargaining with the rain. It’s demoralizing, is what it is. It’s been only a few days, but already I miss the sun.
This is our winter, San Francisco. How do you deal with it?
Aw c’mon… Our winter is a little rainy, but San Francisco rain is pretty wimpy. In the Mission this morning, it was more like thick mist. When a family member in Vancouver tells me about their eighteenth straight day of pouring rain, and a friend tells me how cold it is in New York, I take great satisfaction in describing the weather here. Schadenfreude: try it today!
Of course we have seasons, they are called Richmond, Mission, Downtown, Sunset, Twin Peaks, Castro, and Potrero
haha, good one, Tyler.
The rain is bothersome, but I’m so very glad for it. Cities NEED to be washed down some! I can immediately tell the improvement in the air quality, and as an asthmatic-in-denial, that makes a big difference to me.
Walking the dog is more of a chore, but once you accept the wet and don’t attempt to fight it, it’s actually pretty fun. And it beats the hell outta shoveling snow or chiseling off ice.
Yes, we have two seasons: brown hills and green hills.
As a new transplant, I’ll take the rain over the Chicago winters any day! And like Tony says, the rain isn’t even that bad. So far I haven’t had to buy an umbrella.
Rabbit, as a fellow Chicagoan ex-pat, I’m right there with ya. :)
One more ex-Chicagoan not missing negative degree windchills.
As someone who now mostly gets around by bike or on foot, instead of by car, but who still doesn’t believe in using umbrellas, I am in pronounced need of a hooded waterproof jacket.
The purchase of which will, I’m quite sure, immediately precede the ending of the rainy season.