Flood Aftermath

Earlier this week we had crazy amounts of rain even for Seattle. It poured and poured for almost three days. We broke all sorts of rainfall records, a giant chunk of I-5 closed and just reopened yesterday, and we were declared a state of emergency. Fortunately my neighborhood was pretty safe, but I know several people who had floods in their basements or damage to their cars.

Now, however, it's sharply cold and beautiful outside. The sun has been out, the sky is blue, and everything is starting to dry out in a good way.

Today I noticed that, thanks to the weirdly-timed, torrential rains, the grass all over town is so green it almost hurts the eyes. The little patches of grass at my apartment complex and at the university, as well as larger expanses at parks here and there, seems to jump right into your face. You can almost see the color vibrate.

This deep, deep green is even more pronounced in contrast to the yellow and brown leaves that litter the ground and hold on desperately to tree branches. One can't help but notice the contradiction between the dead and the fiercely alive.