Why I live in This Rainy Place - (written in 2011 by Libby Wagner)

Because today the Cascades spread out to the East,
and the Olympics, the West,
snow-capped and promising, perfectly
outlined in the morning sky.

Because the ferries make their way back and forth
to Bainbridge and Vashon, no matter the weather.
It’s likely I’ll be stopped still by a blue heron,
my morning walk on Alki Beach, the space Needle’s
spire rising in the distant skyline.

Because one morning 6 a.m. flight,
I grab the tired gate agent and say, “Look!”
The rose light illumined Mt. Rainier, magnified
by airport glass, all 14,000 feet, just outside on the tarmac.

Because this is the only place I know where people say,
“The mountains are out today!” as if they dissolve
behind the fog and mist, making
a round-trip journey to another locale.

Because for every mile west to the Hoh Rainforest,
you get another inch of rain until finally, with reverence,
you can walk the moss-covered trails into the magic air
and cedar-filtered light, verdant, pristine, silent.

Because this is the first city I ever loved. After Paris, Sydney, Boston,
New York and San Francisco, I still delight the plane’s descent
past St. Helen’s, Adams and Rainier. I say to myself,
finding my street, this is where I live.

Because I tell Starbuck’s baristas in faraway towns,
“I live about a mile from the mother ship,” headquarters,
as if this makes a difference,
as if they’ll treat my coffee with more respect.

Because if it’s true that we have more than
300 days of gray, then those 65 are perfect
in their possibility, their expansive hope and optimism.

Because we’re okay with the contrast. Who wants San Diego?
When here the weather reminds us
that change is indeed inevitable,
and our days to come are filled with sun.

- Exactly :)

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