This week has been an odd mix of emotions. While worrying about our families safety in a Wisconsin blizzard, Mike and I have been relishing the past week of mid-50s weather. I worried a bit about the rain and gloomy skies as Mike and I first started our lives here, but quickly grew to love the hanging mist in the air. The reputation Seattle weather gets is fair, considering most of it's true. However, there is always a another side to look at.
Myth: It rains constantly in Seattle.
Truth: Yes, it precipitates a lot, but it rarely downpours constantly. Most often we get a hanging, dewey, mist which is refreshing and reviving. Mike and I really enjoy the rain, especially walking in it. It is a little bit miserable if you aren't properly dressed, but that is only a raincoat and galoshes away.
Myth: The sun never shines.
Truth: Except for a few months in the summer, it really doesn't come out too much. But Seattlites get "sun guilt", when the sun is out EVERYONE is out in it. So even though it doesn't last, just when you can't look at another cloud, they will part and it will be the most beautiful vision of sun with dissipating clouds. And then just as your starting to lose the special-ness to being in the sun it disappears again.
Myth: It's always gray.
Truth: It is gray. A lot. But, oh man, there is an upside to the gray. It is green, Green, GREEN! The grass, the moss, the leaves, everything turns vibrant green in the fall, spring, and winter (everything is brown in the summer). Roses bloom through the winter. It takes some trees 3 months to lose all their leaves. Pretty autumn colors last for nearly 2 months. Despite the gray clouds, they are never one consistent color of gray, they at least have texture. Even though the sun may not be shining, for a nature lover like me, the colors around me are more worth while anyway. Plus, the clouds hold the warmth in. Our winter highs are at the upper 50s and lows just above freezing. On the rare occasions it does get into the 20s, we get snow (see previous post about our first Seattle snowfall). The snow lasts about 2-3days, then returns to the green backdrop.
I guess you could say I am growing like a weed here in Seattle. The weather suites my temperament, which even to me was a bit of a surprise. The summers are a bit of teasers, as they never really get hot. But, we've only just learned we don't actually like summer weather. Do we sound like we were meant to live here. Loving life in Seattle.
