Rain

You know how they say Eskimos have a hundred words for snow? Well, Vancouverites have a hundred words for rain. While I was in England a couple years ago, I came into my hotel from the rain. A group of people asked me if it was raining outside and I paused and said, "It's drizzling". They were like "What?", and I had to describe what drizzling meant, "Well, it's not quite raining enough that you'd need an umbrella, but it looks like it might pick up soon". They laughed and I explained where I was from.

Today as I walked around the neighbourhood in the drizzle, I contemplated all the ways we describe rain in Vancouver. The most unobtrusive type of rain would be "mist", and we'd say "It's just misting". Then it would be "sprinkling", which is still tolerable without a rain coat or umbrella. Drizzling boarders between sprinkling and raining. Some may risk going without an umbrella, but if you wear glasses, expect them to get splotched with water. The next level would just simply be raining, which is when we would definitely want an umbrella or rain coat. But it would be okay to run to the car in the rain.

After that comes the downpour, something you do not want to be caught in. We live in a temperate rainforest, and it's no surprise that we get a lot of rain here in Vancouver. But that is what keeps our forests lush. And for me, rain makes me feel so cozy and homey. Happy first day of Fall!