When I drove it back from NY some years ago, I had to wait 5 months before I could put the top down. Because it rained. And it rained. And it rained some more.
Very frustrating. And the repetitive tune in my head was "What kind of idiot owns a convertible in Raincouver?!" (to which I could only answer, "this kind of idiot"...)
At the 5 month mark came the very first break in the unrelenting rain. Although I was only a few minutes from home, I immediately pulled over, lovingly caressed and gently pulled the toggle to put the top down, enjoying the feel of the wind (damp-ish as it was) as it tousled my hair and sent the candy wrappers from the floor swirling around my legs. I even took a few extra laps around the neighbourhood to get the full effect. (A good thing, because it rained for 3 more continuous months after that.)
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| Sunset in the rear view mirror |
So what kind of idiot owns a convertible in Raincouver anyways?
Well, 5 years later, I thought I had been vindicated. Aha! 'This kind of idiot' is an idiot no more. In fact, I might just have been ahead of my time. Like Gallileo.
Because the weather, from the month of May forward, had been incredibly dry.
WARM. SUNNY. LOVELY.
The Audi's top had rarely closed to cover my head. I reveled in it. I had sunglasses and ball caps always at the ready. It was glorious.
Until it wasn't so glorious anymore. The lovely dry weather became:
HOT. SCORCHING. ALARMING.
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| Days are dusty, nights are hot. Slow burn in the sky |
Endlessly so. To the point where a longer journey forced me to close the top because I was in danger of sunstroke otherwise. "What kind of idiot drives around in a convertible on a sunny day with the top up?!" Ummmm, this kind of idiot.
Was I really ahead of my time when I bought that convertible? Did my reptile brain somehow intuit that Beautiful BC was going to turn into Hotel California (and we ALL remember that line "...but you can never leave...")
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| Dogs in fur coats looking for relief |
Or is it just that the change in our weather has accelerated so quickly that the curiosities (convertibles in Vancouver) are becoming common-place.
Will southern BC be the new southern Cali?
After all, the similarities don't stop at the weather... we also have:
1. bloated, unaffordable luxury homes (more every minute);
2. local droughts, water restrictions and snappy catchphrases ('brown is the new green');
3. raging wildfires that consume homes and livelihoods on the outskirts of town;
and most importantly, we finally have:
4. Nordstrom's (because everyone needs a cocktail bar in their department store.)
I was starting to feel a bit worried about it all. Global warming is such a downer.
So I'm going to make myself feel better. I'll be heading downtown tomorrow to find me a pair of $1400 bejeweled Jimmy Choo flats. I'm pretty sure that will work to blow all that angst away.
Just like a hot, hot wind.
Wanna join me?
