Summer Rain

Well, I never thought I'd say this, but I HATE summer rain. I always used to love summer rain, the sudden, unexpected storm, and when I first moved to Greece, I was entranced by the might and fury of summer thunderstorms in Athens, as if Zeus himself was responsible.

Then I started doing laundry. Now, laundromats do exist here, but not in every neighborhood, and they aren't really convenient. While most apartments are equipped with washer hook-ups here, very few people have dryers. You can buy them, but there is a very small selection and who knows what the hook-up situation is for them. When we get settled in our house on Hortiati, we will have a dryer, but until then, I have had to get used to putting my clothes outside.

This is where my hatred of summer rain (and rain in general) developed. Sure, for approximately 265 days of the year, you aren't going to get any rain in most of Greece, on the islands, even more rain-free days. In the winter, of course, you have to be very careful about when you put clothes outside, and generally I just end up setting up clothes in the extra room inside. But in the summer, you think, ok, sunny day, all is clear, nothing menacing looming from the mountain or the sea, no problem. So I put out tons of laundry, all "necessity" laundry (ie. underwear, day to day clothes, etc.). And guess what happens...an unexpected TORRENT of rain erupts, out of nowhere, for 5 minutes and nearly destroys my almost-dry laundry. Luckily, the wind was blowing to the east and away from our balcony, but still. I look in amusement and wonder as most Greek women seem to leave their laundry on the line, rain or not, for days in winter even.

Maybe eventually I'll be like that, but hopefully not before I have my very own dryer.