Here we are, it's raining again. …
One of the many reasons we were excited and ready to get out of the Seattle area was the impending 9 months of rain. A month and a half ago, the end of August, we were at a place in our van build that we were able to start our journey, traveling across country. We were excited to get going. And, due to some final commitments, we were finally able to leave Poulsbo, WA, on the 6th of September. By this time we already could feel the weather begin to change. The temperature was starting to get cooler, and we finally had a few days of rain, after what seemed like another summer drought. Here it comes, the wet season. … Look at the time, it's time for us to leave! Along our journey so far, we seem to hit rain almost everywhere we've gone. Traveling through Wyoming, South Dakota, Minnesota, and here in Wisconsin. Dark gray clouds and rain seem to want to join us on our trip. Today is no different. Today, our last full day in Green Bay, the weather is pretty miserable. My shoes and coat seem to not want to dry, always being slightly cold and damp. This is all too common a feeling - one that back in Washington state seems to be the norm during the nine months of rain. For those of you who are not from the Seattle area, there are two distinct weather seasons: 3 months of dry, sun and heat, we call this summer; and then there are 9 months of gray, damp and cold, we call this fall, winter and spring. So, for nine months out of the year you walk around with wet clothes. Don't get me wrong, there are some dry and ever rare sunny days thrown in there, and the deep greens of plants all around reminds you this is a truly beautiful place to live. It's just gray and wet.
Here we are in Green Bay, Wisconsin, and it seems every other day during our time here has shared the ever familiar Seattle weather. Not that this is terrible, it's just unwanted. We got into Wisconsin about three weeks ago, on the 18th of September. We were all excited and eager to show our new home to Orsuré's dad. Orsuré's dad, aka Daddy, is up here from the Virgin Islands staying with his nephew, as he gets cancer treatment. But things turned ugly and he ended being hospitalized for 2.5 weeks from a very resistant infection. By the time we got here we had been in the hospital for about half a week. Everyone expected him to bounce back and then get going on his cancer treatment. Needless to say he did not get better on the timeline anyone had expected. We had planned on visiting him, show him our home on wheels and then continuing to North Carolina to give Orsuré's mom our Prius. But we decided to stay in Green Bay to help out Daddy. I'm am thrilled to say that Daddy is doing so much better, and his infection is completely under control now. He still has it but his healthy and strong, and getting stronger each day! All fantastic news!! Now, back to the topic of this post - rain. Today, and just about every other day we've been here, has been raining. Most of the time, the rain has been the cold damp drizzle that I associate with Seattle. There have been a few times the rain has been complete, soaking, downpours. And a few other rains have been the ominous mist that envelopes everything and everybody. However, on the flipside, every other day seems to have been sunny, with blue skies and brilliant colors. These days are beautiful. We have been able to play outside with our dog Ben, Orsuré's cousin's kids, and even on the rare warm sunny days take Daddy outside to enjoy the heat and sun. These are great days. But they are short-lived, and then we are back to the weather we don't want. The weather of my home - gray, drizzling, rain. I am going to end this note here. … We are leaving tomorrow, heading to Minneapolis, because I am doing some work with a community organization strategizing a sustainability plan for their future. (To learn more about this work I do, click here.) I hope the weather is better, or I should say, drier, than it has been here in Green Bay.