Seattle

Today was a fairly long day at work.  Long in the sense that I don't usually work on the weekends and also because I was the only one on that side of the building for the majority of the day.  I'm lucky enough to sit right next to the window, so I had a nice view of Mt. Timpanogas all day long, and lots of rain.  Rain isn't usually all that special, except that it is fairly uncommon to be getting a nice rain storm all day long in the middle of January in Utah.  Usually we have quite a bit of snow by now, but it has been a relatively dry winter thus far.

As I watched the rain throughout the day as it seemed to pick up and come down in random torrents, I was reminded of my year in Seattle.  I managed a store up there for just over a year, in Kent actually, which is just about a 15 minute drive south of Seattle.  It was a tough year to say the least.  I worked a lot.  In fact, it's a pretty fair statement to say that is how I spent the majority of my time.  Inside a store working.  I don't remember too much else from living there other than the rain.  It seemed constant.  We only had about 2 1/2 months of sunshine while I lived there.  The rest of the year was spent in a constant drizzle or mist.  It's kind of funny because, after a while, you totally get used to it and almost don't even notice it anymore.  Everything was so different up there.  I remember that the sidewalks were different and almost didn't even have the appearance of being wet when it rained. 

Another really neat thing about living in North Western Washington, was all the green.  Everything there is so vividly green all year long!  There were so many amazing trees and plants everywhere you went.  It was truly beautiful.  I loved taking the kids for drives into the numerous forest areas to see all the cool trees covered in moss. 

One of our favorite places to go, was actually this little forested area by our house in Kent, which was right behind this elementary school.  We called it "The Secret Forrest".  As you walked towards the back of the far field and playground of this school, there was a small break / corridor in the fence that led to a paved trail through this very thick Forested area.  Often times we would see Deer, Squirrels, Beavers, and other small animals running around in there.  But it was so quiet and peaceful.  The only sounds were the faint rustlings of the trees in the cool breeze, crickets, and the occasional bird.  The trail appeared to be some sort  of jogging / walking trail to a nearby country club, but I always told the kids that it was so that the trolls didn't get lost.  It was great, they were always a little bit scared, but would always ask to go there again and again to look for the trolls or fairies that lived in "The Secret Forrest". 

While I understand that some people have a hard time with the lack of sunshine there, I didn't seem to have a problem with it.  I kind of enjoyed the constant fresh smell of rain in the air, and complete lack of snow.....ha ha.  It did snow a few inches there 2 or three times while we were there, but it typically didn't stick or last for more than a few hours.  While living there with 9 out of 12 months a year with rain and overcast skies can be somewhat daunting, the several months of sunshine during the summer definitely made up for it.  You get perfect, clear blue skies with the temps pretty much consistently in the mid 70's.  It was absolutely beautiful. 

I also great pretty fond of Mt. Rainier while we were there as well.  It is such an amazing and humbling site to see in person.  In Utah, I think we take the Mountains for granted because we are surrounded by them on all sides.  In Seattle, Mt. Rainier stands as this vast and ominous mountain all alone to the south horizon.  You gain a lot of respect for it as you are flying into Seatac International Airport and see the top of it poking through the clouds just as the plane is starting to descend.  Especially when you think about the fact that it is technically still an active volcano, and is about overdue for an eruption. 

Pretty amazing view if you ask me.  :)

There were lots of things that I really enjoyed about living in Seattle.  I loved our quiet little neighborhood.  I loved our awesome neighbors and friends that we made there.  I loved the random food joints I could find everywhere.  I loved the scenery, and I loved the atmosphere that is Seattle.  My only regrets were that I worked too much and wasn't able to enjoy as much of the area as I would have liked.  I still want to kayak through the Puget Sound.  I still want to hike Mt. Rainier.  I still want to go to Forks, just so that I can flip it off for it's contribution to the Twilight series.  Alas, someday I still just might.

:)