It's The End Of The Summer As We Know It ... And I Feel Fine.

When I decided to move out here, I had never been to the Pacific Northwest (PNW). My first visit here was in November 1995, to find an apartment for my roommate and I. It rained the whole four days I was here.

When we made it out here in mid-December (after driving for five days) - it was pouring. Everyone said it never rained that hard here. Really. It doesn't.

After 13 years here ... I believe them. It's actually incredibly beautiful for most of the year. When it does rain, it's kind of a gentle, misty drizzle. We have our "rainy season" that usually starts in November, but really it's not so different from the snowy season that I grew up with in Chicago - except not as cold. So, wet - instead of something you can sled and ski in and say "oohh, how pretty". Just gray and damp.

The past day or two have reminded me that fall is coming, and not too far away. It's been cooler (after 95-degree heat last week) and cloudier, and the rains have come, at least a preview. I've noticed that the garden spiders are bigger and are building webs everywhere - to snare food to fatten them up and lay their eggs before the winter. That's always the sign to me that summer is ending. Breathtakingly large webs of rain-laden spider silk, with a big stunning spider perched smack-dab in the middle. (Yes, I am considering spiders to be gorgeous as I get older - I STILL don't want them to touch me, of course). Soon, all we'll be able to find at the nurseries are row upon row of chrysanthemums in autumn hues ... which always makes our shoulders droop the first time we see them, but we accept it and scoop up pot after pot ...

I'm not ready for summer to be over yet. And it's not. We have a camping trip this weekend with the rest of the neighborhood ... I'll head up a few days after Scott (he's on vacation starting tomorrow), and play with dogs and kids (and Scott) and look over the bluff at the Sound and go hiking and build bonfires and watch the barges and cruise ships go by and drink a lot with our neighbors in the dark (well, and in the light) and smell like woodsmoke and bug spray and lie with Scott in a sleeping bag with a little over 200 pounds of dog next to/mostly on us in a tent, and eat dehydrated camp food for lunches and snacks and get together for big friendly feasts at breakfast and dinner and play badminton with the kids and remember that life is more this than that.

So don't take my grouchy video of our rainy day too seriously. There's some summer left in the old girl yet.