It has rained the whole month of May. That can't be true, but it is pretty close to true. I just went surfing around looking for confirmation and I can't find hard statistics. I found another blogger who asserts there has been exactly one full day of sun in May. That sounds right. It's been well over a week since I've seen the sun, and then it was only a glimpse, and it was gone within a couple of hours. It has been in the 40s and 50s, grey and wet and drizzly, with a cold wind, for as long as I can remember. Scarf, hat, gloves, raincoat weather. My dad posted about the bleak rain a month ago, and I had to check the date because it could have been written almost any time in recent memory.
The impact on my mood has been dramatic. I haven't been going outside, I haven't been exercising, and that has a big impact on my energy and self-esteem. I've watched more movies than I usually do, and I've read more fluff. I've eaten too much comfort food and drunk too much tea with honey. I have a lingering headcold that's not going away, as do most people I know. I have a big ouchy wound on my left hand that's making me wince. I have a lot to do. All of these things don't help. But the constant rain, the cold wet nasty unpleasantness every time I try to go outside, and the gray unceasingness of it has made me despondent. I feel like an animal in the zoo: listless, trapped, unmotivated, out of my element. I don't want to get out of bed in the morning -- there's not enough light, I'm sick of the sound of rain on the window. I am not myself. It's very strange.
Tomorrow I have to go for a run, and maybe visit a tanning booth or something. The forecast shows nothing but clouds and rain through Monday, when it offers the small respite of a "mostly cloudy" forecast.
How do people live like this? I want to throw myself off a bridge.
I feel your pain. I live in Tacoma, 40 miles south of Seattle. The weather is identical, though I think Tacoma is windier having grown up in Seattle and lived equal amounts in both places. Sadly enough sometimes, Seattle is where I go during the winter to escape how depressing Tacoma can get. Seattle has a vibe I feel comfortable with, an energy if you will. Tacoma lacks that. It has no small town charm or big city energy, just a city on a hill sorta down on itself. Its made MASSIVE progress within the 10 years I've lived here, but now, moreso than ever, have the winters bothered me. Im finishing my BA and would like to move to Denver possibly. I love snow, sun, and thunderstorms.
Also, Seattle is usually 5-10 degrees warmer than Boston in the winter, usually just warm enough to not snow. We get snow maybe once or twice a year and usually melts away that day or one later. In the summer, Seattle is extremely pleasant. Usually in the mid 70's with little to no humidity and sunny! Hardly anyone has air-conditioning.
Posted by: Randy | August 06, 2008 at 04:10 AM
Trust me on this... if you were raised or have spent a decent chunk of your life in the southwest (that includes Calif, Ariz, NM, UT, or NV) DO NOT MOVE TO SEATTLE!
The city is very self-inflated giving a false impression on outsiders who want to move here. Residents consistently proclaim just how amazing and beautiful it is on the news and by word of mouth, but from an independent point of view there is nothing going for it. Compared to other cities such as San Francisco or San Diego, there is no aesthetic style to Seattle. It leaves you feeling cold, empty and depressed. The people up here are a joke... very introverted, and awkward to be around.
Seattle is also a very unhealthy city to live in. The frequent lousy weather and traffic problems leaves people compelled to want to stay inside and be lazy.
It is a joke just how awful it is living here. Anyone who actually enjoys living in the constant crappy weather, surrounded by cold, smug, elitist people, has some serious mental issues...
And yes I am moving from this wretched city back to the southwest. Seattle is a life sink and for that I say good bye.
Posted by: Nate C | August 22, 2008 at 10:33 AM