Cougars & Mustangs 

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The rumor is that rain is on its way to the Central Coast, but the rumors I hear are usually just from eavesdropping on people who happen to be walking outside of my apartment, which is a sub-group of the population not necessarily renowned for accuracy. However, if the moodiness of the cloudy sky outside is any indication (and given my particular fondness for that kind of sky it probably is) rain might actually in fact greet us here.

Depending on your tolerance of the stuff, if you’ve been planning on visiting The Beach soon, the precipitation is either a deal breaker for the trip or a lucky break given it’s breaking everyone else’s deals. Either way, lots of breaking is assured—if it actually rains. However, whether the water ends up falling on you or someone else, it would be an unusual change of weather for our town, especially halfway through the month of July, and the oddness it would bring should not go unsavored.

Let’s suppose that you really were headed to, oh, let’s say Avila Beach but a sudden, freak downpour the likes of which probably isn’t as bad as you’re making them out to be puts you in a bad mood, ruining your plans for sunbathing. Feeling exceedingly chilly in the bathing suit you forgot to bring a proper change of clothes out of, you throw on the long coat you have hanging over the back of the driver’s seat in case of emergency and head over to the Madonna Inn for a nice cup of Hot Chocolate. There you might have a nice conversation with a befuddled waitress who can’t seem to figure out why the beverage has been so popular that day, as it’s July. The whole time she can be slightly concerned about your trenchcoat and make excuses to go check on imaginary customers just out of your view. Meanwhile, oblivious to this, you can appreciate a nice hot meal with flair until you check out, and remember that you had initially decided to visit the beach because it was free. Oh well.

As it happens, if you are one of the proud and few to visit the rainy beach, you will be able to later brag about the fact that the metal slide in the play area was, for once, not hot enough to burn you and, due to the sudden deluge, actually something you could slide down, rather than—what did you call it?—chafe down.



Intern Chris White-Sanborn wrote this week’s Cougars & Mustangs. Send collegiate news to [email protected].