| There is weather in Seattle, not just rain. | | | | color of the wheat as it sways silently across the |
| Someone told me, when I first moved there, that | | | | Palouse, juxtaposed with the bright sun and deep |
| all the glorious sunshine we have for days on end | | | | blue sky, where you can see for miles and miles |
| all summer long, would simply end one day. As if | | | | in any direction. No large evergreen trees, not |
| someone turned the faucet on and forgot to turn | | | | many trees period, but lots of sagebrush. You |
| it off. | | | | grow to love sagebrush when you live in the open |
| Well, it does rain in Seattle, but not just any rain. | | | | desert. |
| There are MANY different kinds of rain in the | | | | There is so much healing in our connection to |
| Pacific Northwest. Sometimes, we are wrapped in | | | | nature, in our connection to the landscape around |
| a damp blanket of drizzle. It took awhile after I | | | | us: so much mystery and peace. I experienced |
| moved there, but the rain and I are finally | | | | this myself over a decade ago when I moved to |
| developed a relationship. We bonded. | | | | Washington state. I was drawn to the wide-open |
| Sometimes, it is simply a steady sprinkling, not | | | | spaces and I cherish them. For 15 years in my |
| too hard. The kind of rain that when it hits the | | | | Sociology classes, I assigned the wonderful book |
| hood of your REI-Gore-Tex-Rain-Jacket, it sounds | | | | Refuge by Terry Tempest Williams. One of the |
| just like rain hitting your tent as you sleep in the | | | | themes of the book is our healing and spiritual |
| rainforests of the Olympic Peninsula in western | | | | connection to nature, and the importance of |
| Washington. | | | | having a sense of place, a connection to the land. |
| I often spent the day at Seward Park, the only | | | | A dear environmental sociologist friend first |
| state park left within the city limits of Seattle that | | | | shared this book with me, and my life has never |
| still has old growth forest. Seward Park sits on a | | | | been the same. He has since died from lung |
| peninsula of sorts that juts out into Lake | | | | cancer, though he never ever smoked. He was a |
| Washington, so it is surrounded by water on | | | | "down-winder," a victim of the nuclear testing |
| three sides. Well, make that four sides- water | | | | ground of Hanover, WA to the west of Walla |
| from above as well. You can walk the perimeter | | | | Walla. |
| of the park, along the lake, and you can walk in | | | | Over the years, my students have come from a |
| the midst of the forest on trails that take you | | | | wide variety of ages and backgrounds, but they |
| back a hundred years or so into wilderness, into | | | | all have resonated with the idea of a spiritual |
| wildness. | | | | connection to nature. Almost every person has |
| Bald eagles still nest at Seward Park and I often | | | | had a story of a sacred encounter in nature. |
| saw one. Since many days are shrouded in mist, | | | | Some described how a love of the 'outdoors' was |
| sometimes I could not really tell if it was an eagle | | | | often cultivated in them from childhood on. We |
| or not, but I could tell that it was an enormous | | | | discussed how connecting with the Earth, for |
| soaring bird. That is one of the benefits of Seattle | | | | some unknown reason, brings us into a larger, |
| weather...it blurs the real with the surreal...so my | | | | deeper connection with our God- whoever our |
| bird becomes an eagle for me, if only for the day. | | | | God may be- and brings us into a deeper |
| A small gift to soothe my soul. | | | | connection with our inner self, our soul. |
| The rain here protects us, reminds us to retreat | | | | Living out in the Pacific Northwest, you have no |
| every once in a while, to slow down, to be | | | | choice but to connect with your surroundings. The |
| present in each and every moment. November | | | | contradictions in the landscape between the east |
| rain provides the advent of our season of | | | | and west side of the state speak volumes, and |
| contemplation. The rain is a reassurance, a | | | | you are propelled to become mindful, become |
| constant. You know that no matter what you do | | | | aware. |
| each day, the rain will be there- comforting- like | | | | When it is not raining in Seattle, the Cascade |
| an old friend. In Seattle, you can rely on the rain. | | | | Mountains call to you from the east and the |
| Before I lived in Seattle I lived in the high desert | | | | Olympic Mountains call to you from the West. Mt. |
| of Walla Walla, WA. I remember writing to my | | | | Rainier, a 14,400 foot volcano looms valiantly |
| grandparents on the east coast: "We don't get | | | | above the city, like a goddess, humbling and awing |
| weather here. It's just sunny, blue sky everyday. | | | | us all at once. On a sunny day, Mt. Rainier causes |
| I've been here two months and I have not seen | | | | more traffic jams than a fender bender...one |
| one cloud yet." I said this, almost as a complaint, | | | | simply must stare and Pay Attention. The beauty |
| wishing for just a little bit of dark relief from the | | | | we find in nature reminds us of that as well- to |
| relentless sun. | | | | be Awake in our lives to the beauty in others and |
| I discovered the meaning of Big Sky when I | | | | develop the skill of mindfulness. |
| moved to eastern Washington. The rain gets | | | | These have been the themes that nature has |
| trapped on the west side of the Cascade | | | | taught me so far: to become awake, to pay |
| Mountains, so eastern Washington is a veritable | | | | attention to the mystery of life, but to also |
| desert. I learned to appreciate the many different | | | | remember to retreat, slow down, and reflect. My |
| shades of brown: deep, rich earthy browns- the | | | | connection to the land, and to nature, has |
| color of the fields when the dirt has been turned | | | | provided me with these life lessons and so I |
| over after the harvest. Golden light brown, the | | | | honor the earth and the spirits in return. |