Today, it is pouring and windy. I am inside in dry clothes, but I am not ecstatic. It is quite gloomy, in fact. My compact fluourescent light bulbs and high-gloss wall paint cannot match an enormous sword fern glistening in the rain. No amount of tea or coffee can match the lift I got from watching the thrashing two-foot-long salmon work their way up a pristine stream. I can't find a CD with music as marvelous as the waterfall's. So, I put on my rain gear and my rain boots, and headed out to walk. I didn't make it into the forest, just around the neighborhood where I stomped in the puddles that formed around the storm drains that were clogged with Big-Leaf Maple leaves. And then I kicked the leaves off the drain and watched the puddles shrink as they flowed away. I returned home refreshed.
It looks like this week is going to be more and much more of the same. Here's a link to the National Weather Service satelitte map of our state today Nimbostratus Blanket. It looks rather cozy.