Living in the Pacific Northwest, one expects rain. Though it rains more total inches in New York State than it does here, I'd be lying if I didn't say, it's one soggy winter. Guemes Island isn't the soggiest area in Washington State. No, that award goes to the Olympic Rainforest at 12-14 FEET of rain per year. I can't even imagine that, actually. Every single day it dumps rain. You just never really feel dry until you've laid on a human-sized cookie sheet, baking in the sun for the 30 consecutive days of July. Thankfully here on Guemes it's 29-inches, and that's what keeps it deliciously green and lush around here. That two and a half feet does leave a soggy mark; a splashy, splashy, muddy mark, though. Where there's more grass than pavement, it tends to feel like walking on a sponge rather than solid earth.
Here on Homestead Lane, after a half dozen good rains we start seeing glimpses of the formation of the River Si - named after it's discoverer, my dear, hunky housemate, Silas. It starts at the north end of our cabin, snakes under the stairs, and the runs down around a grove of trees, around the corner and creates a nice little stream that runs into what will be our garden, creating a great mosh pit, or mud wrestling arena. So I'm told, historically it starts running about this time of year and really doesn't dry up until late June. The levels just raise and lower a few inches. We don't stock it with fish, but we might start offering stand-up paddle boarding.
Starts here
And winds down here
There's a fun part of having a mostly temperate winter, with mostly just rain. Once in a while you get not just a sprinkle, or a steady rain, you get downpours! And everyone talks about it and compares carnage. "Well I've got it all over my yard! Standing water. It's wreaking havoc on my kale." "Did you see the ferry dock? Can't even find the parking lot!" In the last 24 hours, it's rained almost two inches. That's a lot, even for our water table, which is pretty high. Water is standing everywhere, in fields, driveways, parking lots and nearly over the main roads. The River Si is flowing. The drainage ditch on Guemes Island road is ready for rafting. Gutters are making waterfalls. Islanders and weather forecaster are calling it biblical proportions, which I feel like might be overstepping it a bit, but hey, we do need our excitement here in the land of two seasons - wet and dry. Here's what Weather.com says:
- RAIN IS FORECASTED TO CONTINUE OVER THE AREA. RAINFALL RATES WILL SIGNIFICANTLY DECREASE LATER THIS MORNING. ANOTHER TWO INCHES OF RAIN IS POSSIBLE IN THE MOUNTAINS IN ADDITION TO THE 4 TO NEARLY 9 INCHES THAT HAS FALLEN ON THE SOUTHWEST SLOPES OF THE OLYMPICS AND 1.5 TO 4.5 INCHES THAT HAS FALLEN ON THE WEST SLOPES OF THE CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN CASCADES. THE ADDITIONAL RAINFALL THIS MORNING WILL KEEP THE THREAT OF RIVER FLOODING GOING THROUGH LATE TONIGHT.
- That's not just a little sprinkle of rain. That's like somebody turning the bathroom shower on full blast for 24 hours straight. We're right in the middle of the two mountain ranges so we get it all. A nice pool of sloppiness. It's one of the many make or break points of being, not only a Pacific Northwesterner, but an islander. Can you hack it in the sogginess and the mud and the puddles. Can you put on your boots - you've got good boots, right? - and tromp around in the slog with a smile? Well, I guess technically, it doesn't have to be a smile. We are in the moody PNW after all. But, can you do it with strength and steadfastness, and maybe even a little bit of style, knowing that this swampy, soggy, mushy stuff isn't going anywhere? Of course I can. I've already stuck my hand in a septic tank. I think I can handle a bit of wetness. But ask me again in a few months.
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