October Blues

October is a sad month in Seattle. Phrases like, "I can't believe it's still this dark at 9AM," or "I come to work in the dark and I leave for home in the dark," are common conversation starters and stoppers at this time of year. A gloom begins to settle over the city and her people, replacing the radiant glow that was another long and lovely Seattle summer.

As dreary and as long as Seattle's winters are, October is the worst of it. Although the weather in October does begin to deteriorate, getting colder, wetter and darker, it's the fact that this weather trend is just beginning, coupled with the anticipation of the long, dark winter ahead, that makes October so unbearable. 

When we first moved to Seattle the dreariness of the Seattle winters didn't affect us, not until our 3rd year. Once the winters started to have a negative affect on us we decided "Winter Sun" vacations were in order. In the winter of 2003 we initiated what we had hoped would be an annual tradition of chasing the sun.

Unfortunately, though our initial trip to Zihuatenejo, Mexico was amazing, this idea hasn't happened regularly enough to be a reliable defense against Seattle's winters.

Next, we tried to work with the elements rather than against them and took up snowboarding. Although she lived in Salt Lake City, UT for 21 years, Desi had never learned how to ski or snowboard. Starting from scratch, she took lessons at Mount Baker and we both got fully outfitted. Unfortunately, perhaps due to the minimum 2 hour one way drive to decent snow or to the high ski lift ticket prices, snowboarding has not become the escape we initially predicted nor the distraction we require.

Now, in 2009, with the idea that this may be our last winter in Seattle, we need to develop a new strategy for getting through these next few months. Winter doesn't end in Seattle until May. Though there may be some nice days, and even some warm ones, beginning in February, those respites are surrounded by dreariness until near the end of May and sometimes into June.

With some "Winter Sun" trips already planned, and one trip dedicated to snowboarding, we hope this season will pass quickly. However, when it eventually does pass, we'll undoubtedly become sentimental about the passing of our last winter in Seattle, regardless of how miserable it actually was.