An Arizonian in the rain

So this is what they call seasonal depression? Living in Arizona most my life, I am not accustomed to anything less than 325 days of sunshine every year and more than 8 inches of rain. Andalucia Spain really isn't supposed to be much different, at least in terms of sunny days with an average of 300 every year.

This year seems to be on the far end of the bell-curve. So far, since September we have have 150% (over 60cm and counting) of normal rainfall and what seems like more cloudy and rainy days that those with sun. In January we experienced a freak snow flurry that left the city looking like a powdered donut for a few fleeting hours. There have been floods and killer-waves, and the river that normally meanders through town now moves through with rage and intent.

Never have I been more fixated on the weather report, having enough optimism to return so often in the hopes of sun in the future. But, it seems like every time I look at the forecast, it's only a reason for pity in the next 10 days. As for any sun that is predicted, it disappears within hours only to be replaced other predictions of more clouds and more rain.

Every local I have spoken to continually professes that they never remember a year such as this one and does their best to try and convince me that this is anything but normal for sunny Cordoba. As kind as they are, their memories don't make me feel any better and only serve to torture me and my sun-worshiping personality more.

I have found humor in the discarded umbrellas that are strewn about the sidewalks and streets, stuffed into trash cans with their skeletons poking in every direction. I have been most proud of mine. It is barely big enough to keep me dry, but it's just small enough to carry around in my purse constantly, which has become necessary. It is starting to rust and stick and will probably need a proper burial when it's all over (if it indeed ever ends). I think it deserves a place in the sun, for we have both seen more days of gloom than we ever expected.

When there is the occasional parting of the clouds, it's as if the whole city wakes up from a deep slumber (as most of us probably feel that way too). Everyone comes out for their paseos, restaurants set up the terraces, and they bathe in the warmth of something that has become a precious commodity. I am looking forward to more and more of these moments, and am confirmed that everyone else is too.

My optimism has peaked. The forecast predicts "partly cloudy" for the next 3 three days after a brief morning shower tomorrow. Whatever partly cloudy means, I don't exactly know. But the little sun-icon beckons to me and hopefully of better days ahead.