This afternoon I went for a walk just as a wave of clouds began to blanket the sky. Usually that's a common occurrence here, but Oregon has been unseasonably warm and sunny all winter. It got to 72 yesterday, and even in February it was regularly in the mid-50s with clear skies. It's been a wonderful treat, and yet as the once-familiar winter gray moved in today, I wasn't unhappy. The prospect of rain almost sounds quaint. When was the last time we said that here in the winter?
People from outside the state have always had a misconception about Oregon rain, that it's pouring all the time here. Not so by a long shot. New York gets more total rainfal per year than we do. There are a lot of days in Oregon when some rain falls, but often it's a fleeting shower. That said, the wintertime here is usually perennially gray, rain or no rain. Invigorating as the warmth and brightness of a sunny day feels, I also find pleasing the softness of the light you get with overcast skies. It's more ambient. And yet it's taken the absence of that traditional climate pattern to made me appreciate it anew.
I completely agree with this. I've enjoyed all this warm weather and sun, but I'm a little tired of it now. I miss the smell after a good rainfall and I also miss the moodiness of the sky - the showers, then the sky filled with sudden sun and bulbous, billowy clouds and ever-shifting light.
Posted by: Valarie | March 10, 2005 at 12:28 PM