It’s been raining every day, even on weekends. When it rains on weekend mornings, one rejoices for one can slip back under one’s bedcovers and slumber on for a few more minutes… or hours, even. The weather is just too perfect not to.
But when it rains during the work week, there is a collective moan all across the city as folks force themselves to get up and brave the inevitable traffic jam in their slow, soul-sapping trek to the office. Aye, when it pours, it does rain on one’s parade.
.
.
Doesn’t have to be this way, though.
So, you’re stuck in your car and nothing is moving. Sirens are blaring in the distance and tempers are flaring all around you. Rage on the road, rage in the machines. You take three deep breaths, then three more when the first three don’t work. You fantasize about your warm, comfortable bed and somehow this makes it worse.
The rain-drops. The way they fall on your windscreen. And spread, break apart, trickle down separate paths, unite, flow away again. Repeat. Repeat. Like near-silent chanting but for the tap-tap-tap, but for the sweet pitter-patter. The sky looks like snow in this shade of soothing grey. A blanket. You feel enveloped, embraced by the world.
Why would you dread this? It’s a beautiful morning for a shower. Come, rain on my parade. The weather is just too perfect not to.
.
Copyright © 2011 Kenny Mah Ying Fye. Photograph by A Lil Fat Monkey.
Kenny Mah believes in the good in people. He has been blogging for over ten years. No, his hands aren't tired. Yet.
looking at the sky now, it’s going to be a sunny day…at least till late afternoon. Thank god, it’s been raining for the past 2 days, hence cold shower from my solar, otherwise must really boil water. have a nice day!
@lena: Ah it’s a clue you aren’t living anywhere close to me – for the sky looks ready to pour where I am! My powers of deduction, haha.
Have a nice sleeping-in-sorta Saturday morning, dear!
Well, it’s always better than hot weather. But you know, human is hard to please. Too much or too little, we won’t be satisfied. Agree? Good morning then.
@Prodigal Lulu: Well, we aren’t always that hard to please, are we? It doesn’t take much to amuse me, for instance. Let’s just hope that doesn’t mean I’m too easy, uhm.
Good morning!
That is one awesome photo! Eh.. speaking of good weather to sleep in.. I always prefer to sleep in, irregardless of weather.. lazy bum lah me. Haha!
@gina: Oh you and me too! It’s kinda still post-rainy-ish now and I’ve just had brekkie… so tempted to slip back under my bedcovers and zzzzzz…
Rain rain go away. Come again when I’m in bed. Rain rain go away, so little Missy can stop dreaming.
Lol. That nursery rhyme just popped into my head.
We are a fickle lot. Want it to rain when it’s hot and sunny when it’s raining.
@Toygirl: That’s a cute nursery rhyme… Not that familiar with the last line though… Do we know this little Missy? Hehe.
* pretending to be a plant *
oh. heavens have been blessing us recently!
my roots have been moist from the sweet H20 droplets.
look at my leaves! how green and luscious they are now.
me and my plant bro and sis are all rejoicing and singing… feed me till i want no more.. feed me!
@keropokman: ROFL. You’re hilarious lah, bro! First the school boy & school girl twist to your “jump ship” outing to KL, and now this!
You got me tummy in stitches!
Didja just say morning shower together? LOL!!!
Anyway, when it rains, i just take my phone out and instagram a pic. In my world, snow would be falling down in KL and it’ll be declared a holiday and we’ll all stay home and bundled up in with. Hot cocoa on the side table and be happy. OK, might as well put on some warm ol’ christmas carols in the equation too why don’t we eh?
@alilfatmonkey: Aiyo. I meant a RAIN shower lah, i.e. a shower of rain. Cis.
And it it’s “together”, then it’s together with all the other millions of motorists on the fine traffic-locked roads of Kuala Lumpur, hehe.
Kiddin’ aside, I love your instagram snapshots of the world – you do find the beauty around us, bro. (Well, if one exclude that instagram with the wires coming out of your derrière. Eww.)
Many things in this world can wash away pain but none of them can be compared to kissing in the rain.
Try it if you have never ever kiss in the rain. ;)
@jemima: A kiss in the rain is worth a hundred on the plains? Hehe.
i miss the rain. i love the sound of raindrops :)
@Jun: And the feel of the rain upon our skin, our faces… *pitter-patter*
… and we just feel renewed after that.
I’m relishing the rainy moments as it means the weather is bearable in my eyes since I hate the heat.
So far, I’ve been avoiding the traffic jams but I guess if I’m rushing somewhere I’ll start to think differently & fume.
@boo_licious: Tell me about it. I think I only relish the heat and sun if I happen to be lying on a tropical beach somewhere on a vacation.
Otherwise, it’s just buckets of sweat if we even try to get out there. The cooling breeze and the slow showers – it can’t get more refreshing than this!
i was right, it was a hot day till about 1600, i think, then it went cloudy..no rain though. oh yeah, i always forgot to ask you, why is that profile photo of you look so different from the comments here?
@lena: Haha, I think photographs of me tend to look different from one day to the next, depending on how lazy I am to dress up and comb my hair properly.
My current gravatar in the comments was taken in Vienna last summer, with me wearing Devil’s glasses for fun. (Later, I found out I really did need glasses but that’s another story for another day.)
My profile picture in the blog footer below was taken last spring, in the Hakone Open-Air Art Museum, about two hours of a train ride from Tokyo.
But it’s still Kenny, really. *chuckles*
the time gap wasnt that far but still look very different. Glad that you’re wearing glasses..err sorry..what i mean is i think you look better with glasses.
another question..the books that you wrote, are they on bookstores? fictions? dont ask me to download cos i hate downloading stuffs..
@lena: Haha, thanks? Honestly, I try my best not to wear my spectacles if I can help it. Only when I am watching DVDs, driving at night and attending conferences with very small print on the PowerPoint presentations.
Otherwise, I’m lazy. Hah.
Well, these ebooks are just that – electronic books. More of samplers while I work on getting my writing good enough for the bookstores, haha.
I’ve got Barbra Streisand in my head singing ‘don’t rain on my parade’ now.
Ironically you posted this on a day when it didn’t rain (much to my gratitude, since I was on the road a fair bit)! I suspect the dastardly weather gods are saving up all the rain clouds to unleash on Monday!
@Sean: Haha. The skies continue to plot to ruin my reputation. No rain today. How dare they? *chuckles*
And if it does rain on Monday, my friend – embrace it!
We can embrace the rain (or even kiss it, as a certain ’90s songstress once said), but will our bosses embrace us when we’re 15-30 mins late to work because of it?
And that’s me, raining on your glass-is-half-full parade. Hehehehehe :D
@Sean: Sure our bosses will, if they are 35-45 mins late to work because of it. The trick is finding bosses even tardier or more likely to slip back in to slumber on rainy days than we are.
And that’s me, raining on your glass-is-half-empty parade and filling it up to the brim till it overflows with abundant joy. Heh.
reminds me of the time i complained about the rain… lols…
but yeaa… we humans, hard to please lot we are… no rain we complain hot… rain on weekdays we complain traffic congestion, rain on weekends, we also complain cos we wasted our weekends away by sleeping… ohh the clouds must be confused…
@asstha: Oh well, the weather wizards could always give us our very own weather-wands, then we can have whatever weather which suits our fancy whenever we want it…
…but where’s the fun in that?
omg! u win! :D
@Sean: Hooray! I win, I win!
*pauses for a moment*
Uhm, what exactly did I win?
you win a free mystery pirated dvd, which will be delivered to you feb. 24! wheeee!
now who says sean isn’t the ultimate bearer of dramatically desirable gifts? :D
@Sean: Ooh, a mystery gift! I love those!
And I’ve never heard anything of the sort, referring to you as anything but the ultimate bearer of dramatically desirable gifts, I mean. Hehe.
When I’m stuck in my car, I’ll have myself a mini concerto. Nothing of quality lah, but it’s a good way to train my “qi”. Hehe.
@Nic: My bet is that your “qi” is super-well-developed by now. Hehe.