rain and the city

I've been lax in keeping my little diary up lately.  Work has been a bitch, and it's typically 7:30 or later when I get home.  That makes for a 12+ hour day and I feel like doing very little by the time I pull into the garage.  I didn't even try on the new boots I had ordered online until the weekend - they sat in my living room for 4 whole days.  Seriously, that's a little scary.

The past couple of weekends have been nice and sunny and not even very cool.  Still, I've not been out much; between being tired from the week and stressed from the job in general, motivation is hard to come by.  I've been wishing I had a good excuse to be so lazy, like a rainy day that just forces you to lay around and read or watch old movies, napping in and out.  Well, today I have it, and I don't want to stay in.  I need to get my motivation level in sync with the weather.  I hate when it's off like this.

Despite the rain, I fully intend to hop on the Brown line and rock 'n' roll up to Wrigleyville.  I'm sure it will be a small group at Messner's for the game, but I really want to get out before it's too cold to justify walking even 4 blocks when you don't have to.  Plus, my bud Muddy is in town and I promised I'd be up there in case he survives the Northwestern/Michigan State game.  Hopefully it won't be a monsoon just as I leave the house - but my luck is against that.

It doesn't rain here a lot, so I'm wondering how it can snow so much in the winter.  I'm sure it's just my anxious anticipation that has Chicago continually white (or gray) throughout the winter, when it's probably only a few days altogether.  This winter is supposed to be "average", which according to weather.com means the average low for December and January will be 16, but the average precipitation for both months is about 2".  Which reminds me - I need to look for seat warmers and a new battery.

Rain in the city doesn't seem to slow things down very much.  Road traffic is still constant, although foot traffic not so much.  The city isn't as impressive - the mostly-glass buildings become gray just like the mostly-concrete or steel buildings.  You can't see the top of the tallest, and you can't see as far.  I guess the thing that I miss about rain, though, is I don't hear it on the roof.  I can't open the door and hear it playing on the tree leaves like cymbals, I never, ever see red mud, and it never seems to rain straight down.  Surprise.

So the longer I sit here the less appealing it becomes to get out, so I'd better do before that motivation meter starts sinking toward low.  Besides, it's not going to rain forever - it's sure to be over by the time I head back home.  As long as I don't leave Messner's at half-time.

War Eagle - every week gets more intense when you're undefeated.  Especially when it's 2 undefeated teams playing each other.  Especially when you never expected to make it this far with a 0 in the loss column.  And especially when you've been here before and walked away with nothing (see 1957, 1993, and 2004).  Still, it's fun to have something to be excited about every Saturday for 3 months. :)