Wet, cold, dark

Monday, January 26, 2009

We are deep in winter here in Oregon's Willamette Valley.  Which means we are wet and cold.  Which means we are the Oregon mole people; we go to work in the dark and we return home in the dark.  Darkness reigns from five p.m. until seven a.m.  We scurry about, from habitat to vehicle, from vehicle to work, to store, to restaurant, with shoulders hunched and eyes squinted.

There is a special quality of rain here.  It is spit from the sky in aerosol form, fine droplets that defy gravity and swirl around and up, sticking to faces and slipping through the tiniest gaps in clothing.  The droplets make you wet under your umbrella and inside your glasses.

In all the television and print ads for good, fun, healthy, positive things, the weather is always warm and sunny.  At least sunny, even if the ad is for a winter vacation.  Only in ads for cold remedies, cough suppressants or mucus medicine is the weather portrayed as ours really is, five or more months a year.  Wet, cold, dark.