By Mary O’KEEFE

“The rain continued. It was a hard rain, a perpetual rain, a sweating and steaming rain; it was a mizzle, a downpour, a fountain, a whipping at the eyes, an undertow at the ankles; it was a rain to drown all rains and the memory of rains.”

This is how author Ray Bradbury described the weather in “The Long Rain.” Now that rain was on Venus but I think most of us can relate to this description of downpours that then reduce to a mizzle (which is a drizzle). Those are the times we actually think the rain may be over, when we may even take off our rain boots and leave our umbrellas in the car while we go into the store … only to come out and find a downpour.

“The rain danced on their skin, on their wet uniforms; the rain streamed from their noses and ears, from their fingers and knees. They looked like stone fountains frozen in the jungle, issuing forth water from every pore. And, as they stood, from a distance they heard a roar. And the monster came out of the rain,” Bradbury wrote.

Okay, two things here: The monster was a lightning storm and there is nothing like a Bradbury descriptive passage.

In the story, soldiers who had crash-landed were attempting to make their way to the Sun Dome. There were once several of the Domes on the planet Venus but the Venetians were coming from the sea and destroying them knowing that if they destroyed the Domes with their fake sun they would destroy the humans.

The Venetians knew the importance of the Sun to humans and how it plays a role in humans’ health and happiness.

Studies have shown that sunlight appears to increase the brain’s release of serotonin, which is a hormone that boosts mood and helps a person feel calm and focused. People may feel happy when the rain begins, especially in California where rain is so needed, but there comes a time when it is difficult to be thankful for the downpour and you just want to see some sun.

According to the Mayo Clinic, “Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) is a type of depression that’s related to changes in seasons … If you’re like most people with SAD, your symptoms start in the fall and continue into the winter months, sapping your energy and making you feel moody. These symptoms often resolve during the spring and summer months. Less often, SAD causes depression in the spring or early summer and resolves during the fall or winter months.”

SAD can happen when there is no or little sunlight, and during long periods of rain. Treatment for SAD can be light therapy.

Light therapy boxes can offer an effective treatment for SAD. They’re designed to deliver a therapeutic dose of bright light to treat symptoms, according to the Mayo Clinic. Of course it is important to talk to your doctor about your mental well-being and possible depression.

In “The Long Rain” Bradbury enhanced his story by using the effects on humans of long periods of dark clouds and rain and although it was to the extreme the story did deal with depression and other mental issues brought on by what seemed to be never-ending rainfall. Even though they were on Venus, Earthlings can still relate.

Now it has only been raining a few days, on and off for a few weeks, in Southern California. We haven’t seen a lot of rain in years past, and the environmental side of us is happy and thankful; however, it is important to remember that the Venus traveling explorer side can really be affected by the lack of sunlight. This is even more important to remember when we find ourselves getting angry at the puddle we just stepped in or especially with other drivers on the roadways.

Just find your Sun Dome, wherever that may be, take a deep breath and thank the gods you are not on Venus but in Southern California and the sun will soon shine again.

Don’t put away your umbrellas just yet as there’s another storm, actually a couple of other storms, on their way.

The first one in the series is due to arrive on Friday but not expected to bring much rain. Then on Saturday another storm will come down from the north that is expected to bring one to two inches of rain to the entire area. Monday and Tuesday will bring another rain system from the north.

“The models are all over the place with this one,” said David Sweet, meteorologist with NOAA.

The general consensus is that Monday and Tuesday will bring a storm with moderate rainfall, he said.