Feeling the Rain

"Some people feel the rain, others just get wet."

-Bob Marley

I live on Vancouver Island, on BC's west coast.  The town I live in receives less rain than any other on the island but still, if you live here, you learn to live with wet weather.

Even though we may complain about it, island folk learn to love the rain.  The rain provides us with a topic of conversation and blesses us with green.  Green defines our part of the world.  From moss clad tree trunks to lichen beards on big leaf maple trees it is the colour of the west coast.  Skies may be grey here but, even in the depths of winter, the grass is always green--and rarely covered with snow.

We have enough rain here that every man-made structure not regularly scoured bare turns green.  Pavement grows moss.  Roofs grow moss.  Walls and even windows grow moss, mildew, and lichen.  We joke that if we stand still for long enough, we'll grow moss and roots too!

Anyone who spends any amount of time outdoors here owns a good set of rain gear and an umbrella, which is not to say that we don't get caught without them often enough to know what it feels like to get soaked through to the skin.  We rarely stop what we're doing or change our plans because of wet weather.  We know that rain is a blessing.

Our mild, wet weather brings us a longer growing season than that of many other areas at our latitude.  It sustains a rainforest that provides a home to an astoundingly diverse range of living things.  It provides us with a wild food banquet right at our doors, year round.  It raises river levels so we can be blessed with abundant salmon and with fresh water fish.  It provides us with a wealth of potable water and excellent growing conditions for our crops.

I love the rain.  I love all the things it brings us.  I look out my window in wet weather and give thanks for our soft landscape of greens and greys, and for the opportunity to enjoy the quiet beauty that surrounds us every day.

Please be respectful of my work.  All the photographs in this post are protected by copyright and may not be used without my written permission.  

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This post is linked to {Simple Things Sunday}, hosted by {The Simple Things).