Here we go again

I still don’t feel like I’m getting my point across. Ok, here it goes, one last time.

Normal rain is just fine. The fall season is just great. I enjoy fall activities, even ones that take place in the rain. I enjoy rain storms. I enjoy monsoons in foreign countries. I like rainbows. I like mist. I like rain when it is still sunny out. I like dark, stormy, blustery days. I like thunder, and lightening. I like sitting by a fire and listening to a storm. I like playing soccer in a storm, and rolling around in mud. I don’t hate plants. I don’t hate snow, or snow activities. I don’t hate the earth’s entire geological system of keeping things alive. I don’t want to commit suicide because the entire globe needs a little water to survive.

I do hate Seattle’s grey, gloomy, heavy, oppressive clouds that hang low, pushing you down, painting the land in monochromatic, two dimensional prison-scapes. I hate the “rain showers” that seem to be the standard on every weather channel for every single day in our city. I hate the pounds of moss and mildew that cling to every shingle, window, and car roof. I hate the constant 44 degree wetness.

I don’t think this is an arguable point. I just don’t like it. And I don’t really think many of you should disagree with me. I never hear anyone saying “I love this gloomy grey weather that hangs around for months! It really energizes me and makes me feel great! I just want to go home and mow my lawn, and then go out for a jog! Hooray!” But I do commonly overhear little comments like “raining again,” “still raining,” and “try to stay dry”—always met with a nod and a knowing eye roll. Sure, were all so damn proud and happy about a day of sunshine because we never have it. It is cherished. And no, I don’t find that quaint or charming. What would be more charming is some more sunshine.

So yes, I do like the city, and I do enjoy normal rain. But no, I don’t like crappy year round Seattle rain. I do like the beauty a little water provides, and I do like all of our diverse landscapes. But I think the weather man could still pull off snowy mountains, lush flora, and rushing rivers with twice as much rain in a nice romantic storm in half as much time, with fewer clouds. So there. Get over it. Stop throwing rocks at me for being a sprinkle hater. You know you all only feel like you have to defend it because you haven’t got any better weather going for you. Nobody actually likes the grey. Just admit it. There is a reason that not only the locals, but the entire world, jokes about our crappy weather.

I’ll leave you with a little quote from a European I met while abroad…

“You’re from Seattle? Isn’t that the place where it rains 364 days a year?”