Seattle Rain

I tried to get this blog post done both Friday and yesterday, I really did, but well...you know...life got in the way. I really wanted to get it done because dear, dear Barb is in the midst of a transition crisis after her recent move from Austin, TX to Long Island, NY, and something happened here on Friday that actually made me melancholy for Seattle. (Yeah, that doesn't happen often.)

So, Friday morning, I rolled out of bed and onto my computer, and just like magic, I was at work for the day (I work from home every Friday). After about 30 minutes of checking email, I got up to open the curtains covering the patio doors in the living room. What I revealed made me step back for a moment and just stare.

It was raining outside, but not the normal North Dakota pouring rain where the wind blows so hard that most of the time it looks like it's raining sideways. No, this was Seattle rain.

Eight years ago, when we first told everyone we were moving to Seattle, the first reaction was always "Oh, but all that rain!!" We ended up living there for four years, and even now, I still maintain that the weather is Seattle's best kept secret. When it rains in Seattle, it doesn't pour most of the time. It's just the most beautiful light, gentle rain. In the springtime, the clouds are thin enough to be able to tell that the sun is going to make an appearance in an hour or so, and this is just a short shower to make everything look lush and green and full of life.

And there's no wind. None. Not even a little bit.

I could sit on the deck of our third floor apartment and just watch that rain forever. After an hour, sometimes two hours, the rain would stop and the sun would come out, but for the rest of the day, that clean, sweet end-of-the-rain-storm smell would linger in the air.

So when I looked out my North Dakota window and saw Seattle rain, it made me miss Seattle just a little bit, like I do every now and then. And it made me remember that, even though the move had been hard, Seattle had once become home to us.

The transition to a new place takes time....and patience....and sometimes, it takes a lot of exploring to find one or two things that make you feel like you belong.

Seattle did become home. Eventually, Long Island will become home for Barb and her family. It just might take awhile to learn to appreciate the little things that are special about a place...like the Seattle rain.