so it is raining in L.A. - take a moment to relax

I spent about two hours in traffic tonight.  I left work early for a three day weekend (well, not too early I was the third to last to leave the office), but nonetheless I made it out at 5:30 p.m., thinking I would make it home by 6:30. Unfortunately,  even on a good night, it usually takes me about an hour to drive the 12 miles home from Beverly Hills.

So at 5:30 p.m. I shut down my computer, and left the office, a little excited, because today it was raining, and I actually had my umbrella with me.  I slipped out of my office building, and I opened my bright pink umbrella with the purple handle and smiled.  Why would a professional woman carry a bright pink umbrella with a purple handle you may ask?  

M got this umbrella for my birthday this year. 

I told M a few weeks prior, that on the very rare occasion that it rains in L.A. it seems like everyone at court and at the office has an umbrella except for me.  This I said, kind of made me feel like a child, because everyone is prepared except for me for the two weeks out of the year that it rains.  So M's solution was to buy me a bright pink umbrella with a purple handle (I am pretty sure it is a child's umbrella).  Okay, I admit, it is cute.  A little childish, but what I can I say, I do like it.  

Anyway, I started my drive home, and after sitting in my car for about 40 minutes,  I got really bored.  Rain is nice, but traffic in L.A. when it rains is a NIGHTMARE.  As I headed out of Beverly Hills things seemed hopeful.

But, as I headed into West Hollywood, things got a little out of control.  I began to snap lots of pictures on my phone because after only moving a few blocks in an hour I was now both bored and frustrated. And then it really started to downpour.

It was about that time I started to think, why did I leave work early again?   I could have just stayed, and avoided the water torture (lame, I know).

But then, Claire de lune started to play on the classical radio station I turned to.  With the sound of Claire de lune and the rain splashing on my windshield, how could I be frustrated?  And then it happened, there for a few minutes on a street in West L.A. after an hour in traffic, I felt at complete peace.  I heard somewhere once, that it is the little things in life that give people the most joy.  I agree, and I guess this was my little thing today.