The August rain

The weather in Portland this summer has been pretty normal. Around here, things dry out and warm up around Fourth of July, and stay reliably sunny and dry well into October. There are a couple of hot spells that last two or three days, but outside of those, things generally cool down nicely at night all season long. You really cannot beat the summer weather here.

The only break in the blue sky is usually in mid-August, where for a day or two you can see clouds and perhaps even a little rain. It's usually right around the time the kids are heading back to college.

Yesterday was that day for this year.

For most of the day, the clouds seemed to be just teasing us. It didn't appear that actual rain was in the offing. Taking no chances, the Mrs. and I watered the yard. The clouds were giving the plants a stress-free day, but the ground was still dry.

When the sprinklers had done their thing, I took one of my Covid-era walks to take a look around the 'hood. I decided to hike to the Post Office and drop off a letter. It's maybe a half hour away. 

Everything seemed pretty normal at the P.O. I dropped my letter into one of the boxes outside. They both seemed to be working okay.

As I started back home, dodging people without masks, I felt a little mist. It was one of those light spits that evaporate the moment they hit anything. A gentle reminder that you're in a place where rain is a thing. But not even enough to wet the streets. The sky wasn't particularly dark. But from one of those gray clouds, a little moisture was falling. It felt very Oregon, very good.

I was listening to the Friday afternoon-evening transition on KMHD radio. Always fine stuff from those guys. They were working it.

It was starting to get dark and I was about six blocks from home when I'll be darned if I didn't feel an actual raindrop. A few seconds later, another. Pretty soon it was definitely raining. I found myself hustling from tree to tree to stay under their canopies. They weren't dripping yet.

By the time I made it back to the house, I was wet. Wet enough that I had to change my shirt. All the watering earlier in the day had been a bust.

The shower stopped after an hour or two. We wound up getting maybe a quarter of an inch. And with that, I'll bet we go back to sunny skies for another seven or eight weeks. Some years we make it all the way to Halloween before the relentless wet sets in.

Another year's August rain. A gift I'm glad I got.