Sun

The sun really has the power to improve my mood a lot. Everything is so much better when it's sunny out. Here in Vancouver, we are much more accustomed to rain than sun, and it seems like sometimes we don't even notice that we've fallen victim to the rainy funk. All through September and October there are rainy spells, until that one day in November when you realize that you can't even remember the last day without rain. This continues for weeks, all through the Winter, with the exception of those few days when you try to call the white stuff falling from the sky 'snow' even though it's going to turn into streams of brown slush and be washed away by a fresh batch of rain within the day. As the end of February approaches, there are those one or two sporadic days of sun, when you think you can see Spring coming but don't allow yourself to get too excited about it yet since this cycle happens every year and you know the inevitable rain will return shortly. Sure enough, there are a couple more weeks of rain and wind, even though, thankfully, it's a little warmer now, until . . . today. The sun is out, the sky is blue, and the rain is gone. And maayybbee this time it's for good?

As a born and raised Vancouverite, I've lived with the determined insistence that I like the rain. Sometimes it's pretty hard to make it from Monday to Friday unless you keep telling yourself that. Especially on days when you're carrying a bag filled with five textbooks, a laptop, a coffee, and an umbrella as you jog to the classroom that's a good two kilometers from the bus loop with your new leather boots getting soaked through and your umbrella continually being blown inside out. In times like this it helps to chant "I like the rain. I like the rain." as you leap over puddles and sidestep other drowning students. And at moments, I really do genuinely like the rain. Writing a paper is actually much easier and much more enjoyable when it's raining and you're cozy inside the library with a hot chocolate and all the other focused students who are avoiding the trek back home. It's a bit different when it's sunny out and you can catch glimpses of people suntanning through the window as you're constantly taking your sweater off and putting it back on in the air-conditioned library.

However, as much as I try to find the golden moments in my rainy city and convince myself that I like the rain, the truth is that the sun is so much better. As soon as that sun comes out, everything is warmer and happier. Earlier today, my friend and I had a two hour break and we decided to not do any work and just wander . . . This was a strange concept for both of us. But after some lunch we meandered outside where we watched Storm the Wall for a little bit. This is a competition that happens at UBC at the end of every year in which people cycle, swim, run, and then find their way over a twelve foot wall. It was great to be surrounded by that school spirit, especially at the end of my last semester at UBC, and it was made all the better by the fact that I could comfortably stand there in a T-shirt and denim jacket and actually needed sunglasses to see properly. Next we strolled over to the UBC bookstore (one of my favourite places in the world . . . which probably doesn't come as a surprise) and then up to the new UBC fountain. It was so nice to be outside in the sun with nowhere we had to go, just enjoying our gorgeous campus and all the people around us. (One thing we loved observing was the clothing schizophrenia that happens this time of the year. There are some people in shorts and flip-flops, desperately trying to turn today into summer, and some people still in their boots and coats, clearly trying not to get their hopes up. Oh, Vancouver.)

It was a great break in the midst of a busy week, and something that would not have happened in the rain. The sun brings with it the freedom to take a break, and it is in those slow moments that true feelings of contentment set in. Let's hope that this time Spring is here to stay!