April Showers Bring May Flowers...or something like that.

I have been living in the great city of Portland for almost six years now.  Over those years, Portland has become my home. It started our just being a place that I went to college with no real intention of staying or leaving. Well, I never left. I have become a "Portlander". Don't worry everyone...I'm not one of those young people who came here to retire. I am no food expert or music buff. I don't wear skinny jeans nor do I have a strange haircut or facial tattoos. Although, I have to admit, I am a slight coffee snob...

After being here for all this time, I realize that little surprises me anymore. There is still one thing that baffles me. In all of my six years, this still has me perplexed. People in Portland complain that it rains ALL THE TIME. First of all, this is a little over exaggerated by the masses.  It rains, yes, we are near the Ocean...and not the warm one. But in reality, it's not that bad.  Here is what has bothers me about people who live here. It begins around September. People start complaining that it's too hot! They can't wait for the Fall Season so that it cools down at least a little bit. You see, in Portland, most people don't have air conditioning, so 80 degrees is unbearable. Then after Fall comes Winter. Everyone gets excited thinking maybe, just maybe we will get snow this year!  About one month into Winter, everyone is in some depressive state because we don't get snow, ever. Since we don't get snow, Winters seems to last twice as long! Winter and Spring join forces and become one season, one is just more windy than the other. Eventually, everyone just wants Summer to be here, only to complain that it's too hot.

There are a few things that I find strange about this. First of all, you would think in a city where is does rain often, people would know how to drive in it. Instead, they turn into 15 year olds with their learners permit. And when it actually does snow, (I mean...flurry) people literally abandon their cars on the freeway creating an obstacle course for those of us who do know how to drive in freezing type weather. On the flip side, when the sun comes out, they are just as terrible of drivers. The best part about this is that  everyone complains about this here. Including the people that stink at driving in those conditions. In my opinion, the best driving weather for the greater Portland area is overcast.

I apologize for the rabbit trail there. What I really want to focus on is the rain. Although everyone complains about it and wishes that it would stop, they never seem to leave Portland. Wouldn't that be the easiest solution to escaping it? What keeps them here? I have been asking myself that for a long time. Personally, I love the rain! It brings a certain freshness that you can't get in any other way.

I have been thinking about the rain for awhile now. I decided some things about it. What makes rain unique is that it washes things clean and refreshes them. It promotes new growth.  What people don't like about rain is that it's cold and wet. It's sort of a small suffering sometimes. I feel like people tend to forget all of the great things about rain.  Have you ever noticed how it smells after a really hard rain? It's absolutely wonderful! The grass is greener, flowers perk up and the sound of rainfall is so peaceful. Rain seems a lot like life to me. The rain, in and of itself, sometimes sucks. But isn't that how life is too? Sometimes life sucks. Sometimes life is cold, lonely and miserable. Just like rain. But after the rain passes, the flowers are so bright, the grass is so green and a rainbow appears. I have heard rumors that there is a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, but nobody has confirmed this for me.

What I have discovered since living in Portland is that I have come to appreciate things like the green grass in November. I have also come to appreciate that my life experiences are not always pleasant or easy.  I have had to deal with things like death of loved ones. Loved ones who I thought were taken from the world too soon. Loved ones who meant more to me than anyone else in the entire world. It sucks. I have had to deal with betrayal of friends, broken heartedness, and questions about my own faith. This all sucks. These things, these trials in life are much like our wonderful Portland rain. It sucks when it's happening. The good news is, it will end...eventually. It might take days, weeks, months, or even years, but it will end. The end result is so much more beautiful that it would have been without the rain to rinse away everything else and promote new growth. You see, just like the crappy things that happen in life, rain is necessary. When the crap happens, you feel like you are drowning at first, then it hurts a little less, and eventually you learn to grow through the pain. My life has been one rain storm after another. Some of them are caused by my own choices, but in the end, I am a more beautiful person for every storm I have encountered.

You may be reading this thinking "I don't have any issues like that in my life". I promise you one thing. You will. The more it rains, the more I see the aftermath of it. The more I see the aftermath, the more I appreciate the beauty that it brings. This has made the rain more bearable for me. What's the rain like for you?