..."it really doesn't rain a lot here"

Yes, you heard me right..."it really doesn't rain a lot here." Now why would I say that when I live in the Seattle area? Well, I DON'T!!! All the natives/locals do. I was warned by Greg that the people who have lived here for most of their lives, have convinced themselves that it doesn't rain here...a lot. I couldn't see someone actually saying that because IT'S TOTALLY NOT TRUE!!! But then at church, I heard the famous words and I just stood there staring at the girl, thinking...REALLY? ARE YOU FOR REAL? I politelytried to disagree with her but I found myself, once again, trying to be convinced that it doesn't rain here...a lot.

Let's analyze this statement for a second. We've lived here...what...2 1/2 weeks. And out of that 17 days, it's rained probably 15...well, let's say 14 just to give the natives the benefit of the doubt. So, if my math skills are correct, which they may not be since I've been out of highschool FOREVER (2o yr reunion coming up in 2 yrs...YIKES!!!), that means it's rained almost 83% of the days we've been here. THAT'S A LOT IN MY BOOK!!....not that I'm complaining because I totally LOVE the rain!! :) :)

Now, you must be wondering, as I was, why someone, who has been living through the same rainstorms as I have, would say that "it doesn't really rain a lot here". The key words in the sentence is..."a lot." I noticed that each time it was spoken, the word was accented more than the rest of the sentence. Why? Why, I say? Why would they not consider 83% "a lot"? No need to stress your brain out any longer...I'm about to enlighten you as to "why".

But first, let's have a little fun :)

IF...I were a politician and I said..."it reeeaaally doesn't rain aaaa-lot here.." (dragging out the words) what would you be thinking? Ok, just imagine Palosi or Obama saying it...maybe that'll be the what you need to invision...got it?!? Do you get why they think it doesn't "rain a lot here"?

For those of you who trust politians, this exercise might have been a bit difficult for you so allow me to now "enlighten" you. The way they phrase the sentence is somewhat truthful, if compared to places like Houston, but it's VERY deceiving. I call it "misleading". When they say "a lot" they don't mean frequency, they mean amount, though anyone who's not following in the steps of the current leadership of this country, would assume frequency. Once the light went on in my head, I went on to clarify..."So you mean it doesn't rain a lot in terms of the amount of rain not in terms of frequecy, right?" When I said those words, I noticed a somewhat confused/startled look on the lady's face....how did I ever see past the clever design of her sentence? Now I'm going to have to force her into admitting that it actually DOES rain A LOT here. She managed to mumble out an agreement to my clarification, to which I also didn't totally agree. I went on to tell here that coming from Utah it rains "a lot" in both frequency AND amount here...I mean there's moss growing on EVERYTHING, for heaven's sake, and slugs the size of baby kittens!! It's very wet here!! They may not receive major downpours but it's constantly dizzling!! She couldn't disagree with that so the conversation ended with a bit of annoyance on her part.

I think the next time a local tries to convince me that the Seattle area doesn't rain "a lot", I think I will respond as follows...."Really? Then why do the Cullens live here?" That'll get them thinkin' :)

P.S. I'm keeping my eye out for Edward...and for Jacob, if he looks like the one in the movie! ;)