First rain of the season!

That's right, as I sat here at my computer tonight typing away on a piece, I suddenly began to hear the sounds of rain outside my window. What a wonderful thing. In case you're wondering, it hasn't rained in Los Angeles since the winter. The first rain of the year is greeted with scorn by Angelenos, and many call in sick during the first day of truly heavy rain. That's because after months of oil runoff from autos, the first rain of the season turns the freeway into an accident zone with the surface consistency of black ice. In fact, I feel bad for anyone who happens to be driving along the freeway during this rainy night.

But the good thing about the first rain, and the reason I find it so exciting, is because it also washes away the accumulated smog and particle pollution of the past five months, and the mountains suddenly and amazingly "come out". What that means is that the city goes from looking like this:

City II
Originally uploaded by Elevated.

To looking like this:

Downtown LA with mountains
Originally uploaded by Powerkeni.

See what I mean? I'll probably head to the beach for a morning walk tomorrow. If it's clear, Malibu should be in focus in the distance for the first time in months. This rain is actually uncharacteristically early (it usually doesn't rain until around Thanksgiving or later), so I'd better enjoy the clear(er) skies while I can.