The Rain and I

I am in the office. It’s raining hard outside and all I want to do is to snuggle under a comforter while the aircon is turned full blast. It is one of my peculiarities, really, that when I hear the pitter-pat of rain on the roof, I find this urge to turn on the aircon.

When I was living in Tokyo, and I never had to worry about electric bill, I did this a lot to the amusement of my roommate, Barno. During rainy days, we would find ourselves under our futon late into the morning. We would pretend to be sleeping even if we both knew we’re already wide awake. We had separate rooms but because our walls were made of paper, we could hear each other’s movements. Normally, I’d wake up earlier than she would because I loved doing our breakfast, but during rainy days we’d stretch our lazy time till our stomach grumbled. Barno and I would then spend the day cooking and eating. Since we lived quite far from our usual shopping areas, we’d just browse around Seiyu, our local supermarket. Then we’d bring home lots of food: different kinds of cheeses, fish, pork, chicken, fruits (which we never really ran out of), vegetables, eggs, potato chips, tofu and a lot more others. We’d hibernate in the house for days doing nothing but cook, eat, listen to music (she discovered Martin Nievera and I liked Sevara Nazarkhan) and watch TV. Barno was an excellent cook and she introduced me to a lot of Uzbek food. I, in turn, learned how to whip up several Filipino dishes, which she would gobble up – with certain twists -- in seconds. I initially thought that I stayed indoors during these times because I hated rainy days.

I distinctly remember walking under the rain in Tokyo with my Indonesian friend, Auqie, who told me he found rainy days romantic. I cannot forget that incident because I thought for a man to like rainy days, it must be something. Because I lacked the courage to ask him why, I turned to other friends who gave several reasons why they liked rainy days: weather is cool, the sound of dripping water is soothing to the nerves, there’s an excuse to hug, and – this made me laugh – it’s cute to see a couple cuddling under one umbrella.

I told Auqie that I didn’t particularly like rain, not in Metro Manila anyway where I have to dodge unscrupulous drivers who find fun in splashing pedestrians with filthy water and I am forced to tiptoe around dirty puddles to get to my destination. Today, I still don’t like rainy days, but only when I am in Metro Manila. Otherwise, I know I am fine with it.

Take this case. Last week I was holed up at the Fontana Resort in Clark Air Base. It was raining so hard I should have been disappointed that I was not able to visit the duty free shops right away, but I was not. Instead, I set the aircon to its lowest temperature, got a really good book and read while burrowing myself under a thick blanket. It was heavenly. I could do that for one whole week – with milk and cookies, to boot -- without getting bored. It reinforced my belief that I have already started a love affair with the rain.

Now I would like to tell Auqie how right he was when he insisted that rain is romantic. The serenity it brings does something to my senses and I am even writing about it now. (June 24, 2009)