It's Raining, It's pouring

It's a wet, wet day.

I realize that rain in Oregon, especially in the Willamette River Valley, isn't a big surprise. If anything, it's more surprising to find out that it really doesn't rain all the time. But this is what we soggy Oregonians call "real rain." Where you are gently pummeled with raindrops and soaked within seconds. Where it literally rains non-stop for more than twenty four hours. The ground cannot keep up with the deluge and gives up. Many of the drains on the intersections and roads also cannot keep up with the run-off, and they quit trying to pull it away, leaving mysterious looking bodies of water where there was none just a few hours before. Puddles become ponds, and ponds become lakes. People who normally bike to work decide that staying dry is more important than making a statement and crawl into the cars that they normally leave behind. Elementary kids pull on rubber boots instead of their normal shoes. By the end of the day, they've waded through puddles so deep that their boots collect as much water as they deflect, deafeating their purpose. College kids decide that their usual cargo shorts are fine because they'll dry faster, and head out into the constant sheet of water. Umbrellas are everywhere; coats are optional. When it rains this much, it gets very warm anyway, so no one is cold; we are just all wet.

Frogs come out when it's this wet and warm. Their chorus is an added complement to the constant tumbling sound of the rain. I always feel bad for the bugs and other fauna that come out to play in the warm rain because I know that the cold weather isn't too far off. In fact, we've already had our first frost. About ten days or so, we had temperatures that dipped into the 30's during the night. I had to scrape the windshield more than once. (How I long for the day when I can park the car in the garage.....especially when it's this wet outside...but that's another story). Bright and sunny and cold! That was the precursor to all of this wet but warm weather. Just as this warm, thick, wet rain is the precursor to the winter rains. Winter rains are cold, needle sharp and relentless. Worse than these warm rains, even if there is less water being dumped on our heads. No one go anywhere if they can help it. Often there is black ice on the roads. It's a dangerous time.

For now, I'll take the puddles and ponds. And the frogs.

And that's the other side.