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The Rain

The Rain

by Vern Schanilec

In a 50's movie Gene Kelly danced and sang "I'm Singin' In The Rain". Apparently he didn't live the Pacific Northwest in the winter.

I wonder who said "Into each life a little rain must fall". I'd settle for "a little" but a parking lot full of puddles or an overflowing eave filled with needles is not a little. Complain, complain, complain.

Guilty.

All right then, how about the other end of the spectrum. 31 years ago my wife and I looked at each other and said no more Minnesota winters. Thereafter we left MN behind the day after Christmas, headed west during which we appropriately encountered a blizzard in Bismarck ND as if an ominous sign saying "You'll pay for even thinking of leaving MN".

The blizzard ended through the night after which we encountered Montana followed by the Rockies and the Cascades. Upon descending into Seattle on New Year's Day we saw green grass. Green grass? What sort of Eden is this? This is not possible. Surely they used leftover green Easter egg dye to bamboozle naive visitors into moving there. Not so, it was and is the photosynthetic result of The Rain.

I wish not to take year-around green grass for granted but, Dear Lord, after 5 months of from 40-60" of rain annually I'm pleading for Noah's rainbow to appear. The implication of the sign of course is, You won't flood us again. Not sure that's working.

The allegory of Noah's experience is not so far fetched. We've in fact had 40 days of continuous rain followed by more to align with the biblical 150 days it took Noah to land on Mt. Ararat. The implication was the rain had stopped and, in our case, for April to show up intimating a breather.

There is another biblical perspective: God caused the flood because of the evil nature of the people. Do you suppose there's a message in there, perhaps that 40-60" of rain is just a warning? Are we so evil? Ah but, the Bible says the rainbow was a sign a flood would not be repeated. And since we see the rainbow on occasion maybe the prophecy holds. However, I'd sure like to see a rainbow in January.

The lure to visitors has yet another perspective. My mother visited here one April and said after seeing the lush foliage and beautiful rhododendron blossoms looking good enough to eat: "I'm going to move here". Of course she didn't even though I didn't tell her about our annual deluge.

Water, wind, fire and breath are the sources and resources for life which will certainly go on regardless of my complaints. Maybe we'll go to Arizona next winter, Lord, and see if your precipitation generosity, or lack thereof, is of note there.


Oh me oh my, now my lack of faith rains upon my expectations.


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