After Rain

Rainy days always remind me of Washington State. The first time I lived there was my sixth grade year. It was a bad year, two weeks after I started school I was forced to switch schools, making the number of elementary schools I attended outnumber my sisters' previous records. It was also the year Washington State broke a record for raining over one hundred days straight. After the previous sunlit years in North Carolina with bunnies we raised and neighborhood kids we could visit just by climbing fences, Washington was dreary. But somewhere between the assurances from my mother that "6th grade is a bad year for everyone" and daily sessions in front of our gas fireplace with a novel, I acclimated. I started to enjoy the softer light of grey days and how they made everything seem cozier. I bonded with girls who shared favorite authors and animes. Now whenever I think of Washington State it is as one of my favorite places to live. So, I don't mind rainy days so much...and like many a Washingtonian I still loathe to use an umbrella.