Glorious Gloom

Sunshine is wonderful.  Its bright, and warm, and generally happy.  How I love the sunshine.  However, there is something to be said for the rain…

I’m not usually one for dreary, misty days, especially not ones that drag on, one after another.  Most people who don’t live in the Pacific Northwest think its all like that – gloomy.  But that is, in fact, only true of the part that’s west of the Cascades.  Here on the east side of the mountains, we have high desert and arid plateaus – a dry, sunny climate.

Spring has burst forth in full flowering parade, flouncy its finery along every roadside, field and front yard flowerbed.  It was been wonderfully sunny as the temperatures have finally begun to warm.  But I woke up last night to a delightful sound – rain against the window.  Not hard, blowing rain, just the soft pattering of a light rain with no wind.  This morning, the same.  Its not storming – no thunder or lightning.  Just the drops; big, fat drops plummeting to the ground.

Isn’t it strange how rain makes us want to be lazy?  “What? Its raining?  I’m sorry I can’t join you, I’ll be curled up by the window with my book and blanket.”  I don’t know if its the comforting sounds, the softer light, or the threat of getting drenched if you do absolutely anything, but rainy days are wonderfully non-productive.  I’ve been in my favorite sweats the majority of the day.  Justin felt the need to justify our lazy lounging, so we ran a few errands this morning, then did a little exploring down by the engorged river.  Two steps back in the door, my rain coat was hung, boots off, jeans draped over a chair, and I was back in my sweats in seconds.

The main source of my inactivity lies outside, in the activity that does not cease.  I can sit by the window and watch in wonder for hours!  The birds don’t care that its raining – they play in it.  A couple American Goldfinches were having a ball in the grass this morning.  The deer graze like nothing is different.  The horses get a little frisky and run around, kicking and bucking in high spirits.  Even the drops themselves fascinate me, the wonderful splashes they make against the lid of the grill, the cool patterns they make in the puddle in the driveway, the way they make the leaves of the trees dance around.  And beyond the yard, the misty clouds change the view to an unrecognizable scenery.  Mount McClure is completely hidden from sight, only occasionally peeking through the clouds as they hurry by.  Nothing beyond the closest hilltops can be seen.  Even those hilltops fade into the sky, the top edges blurred out.

And so I sit by my window, my imagination losing me in the misty hills and forests.  Of course I want the sun back soon, but today, today the rain is a soothing companion, a calm, welcome reprieve.  🙂