bracing for the remnants of a typhoon
12/10/2009
Raindrops on (not quite) roses, whiskers on kittens
The air has chilled and gone crisp, a stark contrast to the otherwise balmy weather we’ve had. It’s almost as if someone turned the A/C on again, suddenly.
It smells different. It smells of impending rain. It smells like this in December in Singapore. I love that, it meant Christmas and a lit-up Orchard Road, and days off, and the only time coffee ever smells inviting, and crowded malls.
Even when I’m 8,483 miles away, the sudden change in the weather triggers the same feeling. It’s actually very comforting, albeit a little premature this year.
Rain is a little different here than it is back at home. Rain here is usually a light affair, it sprinkles perhaps for the whole day, and is usually a forgettable affair.
Once in a while, it storms. That is what’s supposed to happen tomorrow. The remnants of Typhoon Melor that blasted through Japan a few weeks ago will pay California a visit, dumping snow on the Sierra Nevada and loads of rain everywhere else. Being from the tropics, storms don’t really faze us. We’re used to our tropical thunderstorms; we’ve probably even had to walk back from school through a few in our time.
Storms here mean something different. Bad traffic, really gusty winds going as fast as a car on a freeway, and my personal favourite – downed powerlines. I guess we’d never give it a second thought – blackouts hardly ever happen back home. The power comes back pretty quickly too. We don’t even see the power lines for goodness sakes! Over here, when it blacks out, it could be days before it’s restored, that’s if you live someplace rural. I don’t. But it’s also a little disturbing when you wake up in the morning and the tree you planted a few years ago on the sidewalk (that’s pavement where we come from) outside your home is now sprawled on the Prius parked in your driveway.
Don’t worry. I don’t have a big tree, and I don’t drive a Prius. I’m just painting sorta suburban picture of Lifestyles of the Green and Liberal.
Anyway. Long story short, it’s cold now. It’s going to storm tomorrow. I hope my power doesn’t go out, because I need my tv and my internet, but at least I am not worried about a tree falling over my car. Later, homies.
