IT'S GOOD HOMICIDE WEATHER . . .

Today, it rained in the Los Angeles area for the first time in months, allegedly.

Pardon me. By "rain," I mean to say that some small amount of moisture fell from the heavens onto the earth and caused the ground to become slightly damp, for about seventeen minutes, cumulatively, throughout the day. However, the East Coast weather snob in me is willing to concede that yes, it was grey and cloudy. First thing Sun says as we drive out to start our day: "It's good weather for a homicide."

(Lest you think we two are totally unhinged, there is context for this: we had just driven by a "CSI:" episode shoot, and we were wondering why on God's good earth, anyone would want to film anything in such horrid weather, much less in the middle of a random strip-mall parking lot in the middle of Sun's little suburb. But, as it turns out, such shoots are commonplace, and only dorks like myself are fascinated by the fact that yes, television shows and movies get filmed somewhere.)

Frankly, both Sun and I welcomed the "bad" weather. It reminded both of us -- even me, for everyday sunshine had become addictive and expected, even in the few short days I was out here -- of the East Coast, of New York, of our college days, of bundling up in coats and moving from chilly outdoors into warm and cozy indoors. The smell of musty rain in the air was somewhat refreshing. "The sun gets boring," Sun says.

It did not appear that the rest of the greater Los Angeles area shared our nostalgia. The 4 o'clock evening news was a lesson in exaggerated ridiculosity. "STORM TRACKER 2005" screamed the local ABC news outlet. Yes, of course it was the lead-off story (never minding that more American soldiers had been injured in Iraq and Alito's confirmation hearings loom around the corner). "Live from Sherman Oaks!" "Live from Pasadena!" "Live from the Hollywood Bowl!" "Live from Encino!" Dallas Raines -- yes, that's his name, but is New York Channel 2's Storm Field much better? -- was so happy to refer to "DOPPLER 7000!!!" and tell us that "our weekend might be ruined by the stormy weather!" Beat reporters tuned in to tell us that "shoppers were scrambling" to stock up on water and supplies to prepare for a weekend spent indoors. "Beware of the slick roads, commuters!" the desk anchors sagely and gravely intoned.

It rained for seventeen minutes.

Sun related to me a story of her friend, another New York transplant, who, a while back, was dropping her son off at school during a similar "storm." She arrived at school with her kid, both of them in regular street clothes, covered only by a single umbrella, which the friend had even contemplated leaving at home, the rain was so light. Walking across the school parking lot, the friend noticed other mothers and children in FULL RAIN GEAR: hats, parkas, galoshes. Yes, galoshes. "It was like Halloween," the friend told Sun. "Everyone waits for the one day a year they can wear their raincoats and galoshes, and then they get all decked out." She wasn't kidding.

Sun also tells me that sometimes, she waits for rain so that she can run her errands without traffic or human congestion issues. Apparently, when it rains, drizzles, mists, whatever, people stay home. Sun, on the other hand, fears neither water nor mist, so she bundles up the ladies and heads out to hit the empty stores. Smart lady living in an idiotic town.

Don't even get me started on the traffic. All you in Boston and Manhattan and the greater tri-State area who think you are surrounded by incompetent and senseless drivers, thank your lucky stars that you don't have to drive in the Los Angeles area. For all the people who stay home to prevent the "I'm meeeelllllting" effect, there seem to be double the number who suddenly become blind, deaf and intellectually dumb when the pavement darkens from precipitation. It's agony, I tell you.

God bless Los Angeles and grant it many, many more days of sunshine. Those folks really can't deal with anything else.

Update: Saturday shone bright and sunny, a balmy -- nay, hot -- 70-degrees. I was perspiring at 10 o'clock in the morning. I'm so glad, really, that the storm did not ruin Los Angeles's weekend.