The sun is beaming in through the window, and I look out at its warmth. There's not a cloud in the sky, but there's also no wind, or even a light breeze blowing in the window to add to the sunlight's effect. Calgary is beautiful in the fact that, even during the winter months, nine times out of ten the sun always shines in the daytime. However, I look around the surrounding grounds from my balcony and I can see the result of no clouds. No rain for months, and because of the snow - even if it's melting now - the grass is flat and brown. Unattractive.
Such a consistent thing in Victoria is the rain. Rain that I now realize I miss. Rain that causes that little extra humidity, which prevents you from zapping yourself on a doorknob. I never thought I'd say this, but I miss the rain. I miss the smell of it when it soaks the ground unexpectedly during a hot summer day and you smell it as it hits the hot pavement. I swear that's the first thing I'm going to do when I get back to Victoria. If it's raining I'm going to relish it. I'm going to turn my face up to it, and bask in it. I've said it before and I'll say it here: people in Victoria have no idea how wonderful the rain can be to someone who's been away from it for months on end.
I pause, imagining myself back in Victora next week. The strength in the arms of my best friend as she hugs me, welcoming me home. The sounds of the streets, so different than here. The sights... the sounds....
...the sounds...
my ears pick up a sound that I haven't heard since I moved here... for a minute, with my eyes closed, I almost believe that when I open them I'll actually BE in Victoria, that the sound I hear is a result of some bizarre transportation that literally puts me back in the town I belong in.
the far-away cry makes my throat close up, makes my eyes well up with tears, my heart yearning for what I miss...
...the sound of gulls. |
