Gastown Steam Clock Rain Countdown Timer

Rain in Gastown and the whole street turns into a mirror. I was out walking with no umbrella, obviously, because I never learn, and the steam clock was doing its thing on the corner, puffing away like a kettle that has been boiling since 1977. It is a silly little landmark when you think about it. A clock driven by steam, built to hide a heating grate, and now it is the most photographed object in the neighbourhood. But in the rain, with string lights tangled in bare branches and everything wet and gold and red, it works. People in raincoats. A red car sliding past with its lights on. Shop windows glowing. Reflections stretching out under everybody's feet. I stood in a doorway for ten minutes just watching the street go by. That is the thing about a rainy city at night. Every time it whistles somebody stops and films it, and every time the video is bad, because steam does not cooperate with phones at night. It slows everyone down and softens every edge, and for a few blocks it feels less like a downtown and more like a film set somebody forgot to strike.