Breaking News: Rain in Seattle

 

10/21/22 Hallelujah! Raindrops on my sketch! 

After breaking all kinds of temperature records, this year also saw one of the driest stretches in Seattle’s history: Between June 18 and Oct. 20, we got only 0.55 inches of rain. Last Friday we could all breathe easier as rain finally arrived, taking away most of the smoke that had been darkening our days for weeks. Still more rain was in the forecast.

As a native and lifelong Seattle resident, I never thought I would greet rain with so much joy and relief. To celebrate, I grabbed my waterproof Field Notes Expedition notebook and raincoat and went out for a leisurely walk. It’s just another ordinary neighborhood scene (it wasn’t trash day, but luckily for me, some neighbors apparently leave their bins out all week), but to me, it felt like sketch reportage: For the first time in four months, we have enough precipitation to form actual puddles in the street!

That morning, I had to put on socks. Although the trees have been looking like fall for a while, it was finally feeling like fall. I’m sure I’ll be complaining about the weather soon enough, but for now, I’m joyful and grateful for rain.