Only in the Northwest

I was born and raised in the Pacific Northwest, so I am pretty used to the rain, and generally it doesn't bother me too much. I think that its a pretty singular thing to this area of the US to see it pouring down rain, and yet the people out walking in the rain generally are not carrying umbrellas, and they aren't usually rushing through the rain to get to their cars quickly either. Of course they walk a little bit faster than usual, but I just don't see the cowering, dodging run that is common to other areas, or to people that are visiting this area from a drier clime. I think it is amusing to watch people in the rain and try to decide if they are from this area, are transplanted here, or are just on vacation. Its not usually too difficult to tell. Generally if you see someone walking calmly, with a patient or even serene look on their face, through a Northwest downpour, they were probably born and raised in the area and often enjoy the weather. These are the people who sometimes tell others, with a look of pride, that they were born with webbed feet. Then there are those who hurry through the rain with a look of annoyed resignation. They don't try to dodge the rain, but it obviously bothers them. These kinds of people are often transplants to the area, who fell in love with all the green beauty of it during some of the drier months of the year, then pulled up stakes and moved here, only to find that they had to endure a lot of rainy days to get their reward. The third category is my favorite to watch. They are the ones that are dodging the rain like they were dodging bombs in a war zone. They pull their coats up over their shoulders, they look panicked, and have such an aversion to water that I would not be surprised to find their genealogy linking them back to the Wicked Witch of the West (if she were not a fictional character).
Another thing I have noticed about the Northwest that I just don't think you would find anywhere else, is that people go to the beach no matter what the weather. Last summer my sister in law was coming to the coast for the day with some friends, and since we live on the Oregon Coast, we arranged to meet her at a beach not too far away. It was a warm summer day, but it was also uncommonly foggy, and when we got to the beach, the parking lot was full. D drove around while I got out to try and find his sister. The fog was so thick that when I got down to the sand, I couldn't see the ocean. I could barely see ten feet away from me, but as I walked around looking, I did see a truly amazing sight. Everywhere there were people laying on the beach on towels, or on beach chairs, some even with umbrellas over them, just as if they were sunbathing at some resort beach. They were oblivious to the fog, and didn't care that if a tsunami decided to strike at that moment, none of them would even be able to see it coming. I would personally go to the beach in any weather, but I think I can safely say that I would not be trying to sunbathe in the fog. I think most of the people there were of the tourist type, who just wanted to get their beach time in, and chose to do it in the way they were most accustomed. Generally I find NW people to be the kind that go to the beach to walk and play, not lay around like beached whales. Still, you have to love it. I hope I can live in the Northwest for the rest of my life.