A Rainy Spring in Oregon

Here in Oregon it's been a very rainy spring. The nice days are just abundant enough to remind you that summer is almost here, but most of the time it's rain. But it's a good rain. It's warm enough now to have your doors and windows open, so you can listen to the rain coming down. That's one of the things I miss the most living here. It sounds ironic, but most of the rain in Oregon falls at a time when it's too cold to keep the windows open. Plus, it doesn't so much rain as spit -- periods of steady rainfall are surprisingly scarce. (There's a good line about Oregon in an Annie Dillard book: "It wasn't quite raining, but everything was wet." That's the most succinct description of the Pacific Northwest I've heard yet.) Back east it rains all year around, and in the summer you can sit on the porch and listen to it. Here it either rains only when it's cold or doesn't rain at all in the summer. But at the moment it's warm enough to have the windows open and listen, and the rain is steady enough to enjoy: