I like the rain. Today, in Calgary, there is a misty rain falling from the sky, which actually reminds me a lot of Vancouver. Usually we get huge rain drop rainfalls, but regardless of the type of rain, I like it all.

There is something incredibly refreshing about the rain. Although the air is cool, the rain brings a sense of clean to the air, especially in Calgary, where we have very little air-based pollution. And the rain is responsible for such beauty as rainbows.

Today, because it was cooler than normal, I wore my Paddington Bear style wool jacket, that my mother gave me for my birthday. It comes from England so you don't see too many of them around, and it does a fantastic job of keeping you dry and warm in the rain. But even if I was only wearing a T-shirt and was standing outside soaking wet, I would still like the rain. It's hard to put into words, really. But I think that I really like the rain because of one of my experiences in the army reserve.

When I took the Canadian Army's nine week junior leadership course, it was sunny the entire time we were on base. However, the minute we went to the field, it poured rain, for the first time during the entire summer. And the rain seemed continuous for the entire time we were in the field. So for six days I was tired (I only had 4 hours total sleep the entire time), dirty, cold and wet. And I hated being wet for those 6 days; a lot. At one point the rain was so heavy during the night that I couldn't see my hand in front of my face. But I survived and came fourth out of twenty-some candidates that actually passed the course, which is good, especially considering we started with 40 or so candidates. I liked the rain before the course, but after the course I realized that even if you are wet for a few minutes or even a few hours during your normal everyday life, you can always have a nice hot shower when you get back home. I didn't have that option in the Army. So, I guess, it all boils down to the fact that it could always be worse.

But I really do like the rain.