Seattle is in its twenty-third consecutive day with "measurable" levels of rain.
"Measurable" levels of rain?
Yes. You see, we don't count the days where drizzle spits out and clings to the skin.
I almost hadn't realized that we've had persistent rain storms for the past twenty-three days. Sure, if you'd come up any of those twenty-three days and asked me how this winter compares to the others, I would've showed you wet-and-smelly coats, umbrellas (I'm not a brave Seattle native), and hats draped on hangers and Zach's beloved exercise bike - and my favorite pair of shoes which, this winter has shown, are no longer waterproof, thanks to six years of abuse by this pesky habit I have: walking. Yes, my third winter as a Seattlite has been by far the most difficult.
The sun? I have vague memories.
But, now I'm seeing a real downside to a "healthy," wet, Northwestern winter: Zach is in Olympia... I'm in Seattle... and currently, there's a mudslide in between. I have to stick to sidewalks now - as stepping on the grass (I learned this Sunday) carries the added risk of turning the ground into a muddy sinkhole. But, on those sidewalks, I have to keep as far as possible from the road, as the streets are often small streams, and speeding SUVs, kick up tidal waves that leave James with wet jeans (I learned this yesterday).
Thus, with pedestrians learning that the muddy, unpaved ground has the power to swallow one's shoe, while the paved sidewalks lie dangerously close to local automobile-induced tsunamis, I trudged home last night along with a number of other pedestrians, in a line - on the extreme edge of the sidewalk farthest from the street.
I've graduated from college only to march home again in the single-file fashion that I was subjected to in kindergarten. And, just as in kindergarten, the woman behind me kept stepping on the back of my shoe, letting more water in. But, when I left the line to leap across mud puddles home, I shook my wet umbrella at her.
Triumphant, I turned, and slipped on the wet grass.
Posted by James at January 10, 2006 09:15 AM