Hard rain welcomed.

Out of the many good things about Florida living is the nice hard tropical rains that we get. Today was one of those days. It began as a dark cloud and then developed into a loud thunder and flashy light show. The best part about it is you don't have to put up with overcast all day to get a storm in the afternoon. Earlier today was a beautiful day.

I lived 7 years of my life in Beaverton, Oregon. This is a beautiful town just outside of Portland. I should say gorgeous because there are so many things that stand out. Mount Hood is one hundred miles away. When I first learned this I was stunned because when you are moving down Sunset highway it looks like it is right there. One hundred miles! I loved seeing that gorgeous hunk! Also the folks in Oregon are very enviromentally conscious. This means that things shine and they realize the importance of having trees and letting nature do it's thing. I am happy for them that they love the color green brought on by all that drizzle. Because the one issue that I personally had with that area is rain! Not a nice solid blanket of water falling to moisten the Earth. No. Just a constant dripping in a weepy atmosphere destined to last for days and days. The last spring that I spent there I swore to leave. Even the beauty of the summer that followed did nothing to shake my decision.

I would look at the stunning rainbows that occur there and say "These, I will miss.", but I knew my Oregon days were numbered. I could not bear the drizzle and overcast days anymore.

Other things ended up being the determining factor for leaving Oregon. And I was sad. I did love the friendliness of the people. I knew I would miss their smart ideas about the environment. Familarity breeds contentment and I was happy with the places that I knew. My girls did alot of growing up there and I was leaving behind memories. But I was happy to be returning to a sunny place.

I never really thought about rain. Being from Kentucky we do have those heavy half a day or half an hour downpours, complete with the loudest and scariest thunder and lighting .

But one day after I had returned to my moms in Kentucky and we were all standing on my cousin Garlands farmhouse porch, looking at the coming rain, Steve said. "Man, I have only seen rains like this one other time in my life.' He thought it was incredible. When I saw it that way I thought Yeah, it really is. It is rare to see this type of storm in Beaverton.

I have to say that I do love the storms here in Florida. I do not want to see the toronado warning on my television screen though.