I pretty much have to. I’m from Seattle where rain – or the threat of rain – happens often, especially November through March. And while we only get an average of 38 inches a year – far less than many other U.S. cities – it’s distributed over 152 days. That’s a lot of rainy day walks.

And so I get out with my husband and walking companion on this journey of life, carrying umbrellas, despite the myth that locals don’t use them. We do. When we remember.

We did remember at Federation Forest where all was lush and green and fragrant from the rain.

And at Point Defiance where we found raindrops on roses last fall.

And last week in Olympia, where the rain arrived just as forecasted, making everything wet and dreary and mousy brown.

But even then I found beauty in the raindrops on Capitol Lake,

and…