Dreary days….
It has been either raining or overcast for about a week now here in the ‘triangle’ area of North Carolina. I’m not complaining, mind you. The region was in the middle of somewhat of a drought period, and we most certainly need the rain. Durham, Raleigh and Chapel Hill were all in the middle of voluntary water restrictions– and the local officials were contemplating going to MANDATORY restrictions if the rainwater situation hadn’t improved. And here in the ‘burbs of Durham, I’m reliant on a well for my water– so when things get as bone-dry as they had been recently, I start to get a little worried. See, I LIKE being able to take showers and wash my clothes. Even though the city of Durham fleeced me for a ‘Water Assessment fee” to the tune of 3 Grand a few years back (the city and county of Durham are one-in-the-same), they have yet to run water lines up into my neighborhood– although they do so for every NEW housing development that is built in this same area. Just one of the oh-so-many inventive ways that local government can relieve you of your hard earned money without really having to provide any services….! It feels almost like a protection racket at times around here the way Durham finds ways of charging taxes and fees for things they don’t deliver on.
But that’s neither here nor there. I didn’t mean to get into a screed about the petty greed of local governments. I meant to say that though we have desperately needed the rain, and I don’t resent it at all…. when I haven’t seen the sun in a week or more, I tend to get a little melancholy. I’ve always been very affected by the changes of weather and seasons– and dark, damp and dreary weather REALLY brings me down. That’s why I think that no matter how beautiful and hip and happening both Seattle, Washington and Portland, Oregon are– I don’t think I could ever be happy living in either place. They have just too much rain and mist and overcast weather for me to be happy. I NEED the sun! Not that I get out in it much, thanks to my job…. and I don’t need to do that anymore anyway. I used to be the kind of person who loved to lay outside, baking in the harsh rays of the sun… slowly roasting my skin until I was a nice, deep golden brown. Back in ‘the day’, I would get so dark, you couldn’t see me at night even if I were standing right in front of you unless I smiled and showed you the whites of my teeth. Now that I’m older and wiser, I’m REALLY hoping that behavior doesn’t come back to haunt me later in life with some nice, nasty Melanoma. ANYHOO…. I hope it continues to rain for a while to make sure my well water continues to flow… but I SURE WOULD LOVE to see some sun as well. Just seeing it streaming through the windows with all the little dust motes dancing in it’s glow makes me happy (the sun…. not the dust motes).
OK… I’ve rambled about nothing long enough. For those of you interested– don’t forget that the first issue of FRIENDLY NEIGHBORHOOD SPIDER-MAN drops on the racks tomorrow. Check it out and let me know what you think…..
This is entry 151.
Mike