Rain in West Texas

There's something about rain in West Texas.  The kind of something that stirs all kinds of emotions.  I'm from the east, and when it rained there I always wanted to grab a blanket and just curl up on the couch.  And it rained a lot there.  So there were often times you just wished the rain would end.

But that's not the case in West Texas.  A rain event is as rare as some strange lunar eclipse or comet passing through the sky that only happens every hundred years or so.  Rain in West Texas can stir up excitement.  When we moved here it didn't rain for the first three months.  Coming from a moist part of the universe, the absense of rain was noticable.

And then, one day, IT happened.  And the cool thing is that you could see it coming from miles away.  And everyone in the little town we lived in with a population of 418 must have seen it coming too because the normally sleepy little West Texas town turned into a bustling little spot in the road.  The main street filled with cars riding up and down, back and forth.  Everyone was trying to catch up with the rain, to ride in it, to see where it pooled and how much there was.  The few small businesses in town ceased business, and the owners came out to stand almost in the rain to enjoy this rare experience.  People smiled.  A look of relief covered faces.  In West Texas rain is good stuff.

First of all, you can smell the rain.  It's a smell that I've only experienced in West Texas.  It's like a perfume, not sweet and sickening like the artificial kind.  It's a raw earthy smell, and it's almost sexual.  That's the only way I can explain it.  It's just natural.  And there's something about the rare dampness that stirs you.  It makes you feel like being a little bad even if you don't know in what way.  And then, after you've listened to the rain fall on the tin roof for a while you have to crank up some music.  My personal preference for rainy day music is James McMurtry.  It has that edge that fits right in with the smell and the emotion.  The rain in West Texas gets all five senses worked into a frenzied lather.  It's mesmerizing. 

I guess it's probably a good thing it doesn't rain often in West Texas.  I don't know that we'd be decent people if it just kept falling.  But then again, I would probably be okay with that.  Rain in West Texas is a mighty fine thing.  I'm enjoying a little right now.