Did you see it? Did you see the sky glowing outside last night at dusk? Did you feel the air after the rain?
Are you doing like I am and staying silently in love with Oregon weather while the people around you complain? Do you keep thinking about Shirley Manson, too?
We put the baby down about 7 p.m. last night and I prepared to plop down on the couch and watch television when my husband, who has been tending an ever-expanding succulent garden in our front yard, pulled me outside.
I grumbled a bit, but not for long.
In the brief moments after a recent rain, even our city yard in Salem becomes something of a wonderland of color. The rain saturates the hues and something happens to the light.
What is this phenomenon where the sky becomes like fluffy cotton candy and the colors start to pop like on a big rock candy mountain? Perhaps my photographer friends can explain it.
I almost don’t want to know.
The image above has not been altered. It doesn’t even come close. This is what it looks like here, but more.
I try not to read too much into the meaning of these brief moments. I don’t equate rain stopping with everything turning around for the better.
But I do live for these minutes when it feels like someone focuses a lens. It’s like an intermission when someone decides to dance on stage.
Sssssh … You’re giving away our secret! Oregon’s rain is full of double rainbow joy!
Ha ha, that’s why this was titled “Oregon Secret,” before I changed it…
Emily, you may have moved here recently, but I think you are a true Oregonian. Only a true Oregonian appreciates a good rain now and then. Yesterday the kids were off to their first day of school and it was so fitting that it started to rain. I always think the gray skies and rain feels like a comforting blanket being pulled over me after being exposed to the harsh sun for too long. Kind of like aloe vera on a sunburn–ahhhh, it feels so good.
My friend Jan gives me my key to the club! I’m sure it doesn’t hurt the kids to get rain on the first day of school. Summer’s over! Hope yours had a great one. I’m excited to hear what it’s like for them.
I do love both the rain and Shirley Manson. I try not to tweet, blog, facebook about my true feelings this time of year, but fall in Oregon is spectacular and I get a little giddy with the first real rain of the season. Please don’t tell anyone!
What is this about Oregonians that they don’t want to let the secret out about Oregon? The gig is up! We’re on to you! Really, though, I think it does take a bit of a melancholic to live through the winters, but we’re readers in this house. Some Like It Wet.
yes yes yes yes yes!
Bring on the rains!