When you ask the average Joe or Jane, “what’s the first thing that comes to mind when you think of Seattle”, most (if not all) of them will say “rain”. This is the cross we bear. Well, that and the fact that Starbucks began here. We’re sorry.
Yeah, it does rain here a bit. Our average yearly rainfall is something like 37 inches. Let’s put that in perspective, now: Boston and Detroit both average 41 inches, New York gets about 47 inches, Memphis and Atlanta get 48. You don’t think of rain when you think of those cities, now do ya? No.
We get stuck with the rainy tag not because of the volume of rain, but the frequency. We tend to get rain in just about every month of the year. And, y’know, it might drizzle a little in the morning and be dry for the rest of the day. So when things get wet here, they tend to sorta stay wet.
Thus it was that I found myself powerwashing the moss off of the sidewalk in front of Science Manor this weekend. Not for aesthetic reasons – I actually like the look of a moss-covered sidewalk (it matches our moss-filled lawn, for one thing) – but for the safety of passers-by. The moss gets quite slippery when it rains, see, and the unwary might slip and crack their coccyx bone right there in front of the house. And, while I’d hate to see that happen to just about anyone, there’s also the litigious nature of our society to keep in mind. In other words, we do not wish to be sued.
We have to do this every two or so years. (I suppose we could do it yearly but fuck it, I’m lazy.) Science Girl and I take turns spraying. It’s kinda nice to see the clean, moss-free sidewalk at the end, but the process itself is rather tedious. Like this post, really, but this is what we did this weekend.
Oh, and we saw Broken Flowers yesterday. Very good indeed. Jim Jarmusch + Bill Murray = underplayed genius. There’s some very nice ensemble work by… well, just about the entire cast, really. The soundtrack is top-notch as well. Go see it if you get the chance.
It’s much better than reading about us washing the sidewalk, I can tell you that.
Waitaminnit. You have a POWER WASHER?
I'm impressed.
Posted by: dana | September 14, 2005 at 04:04 PM
The guy at the hardware store was right... chix do dig it! Wow.
Posted by: bmarkey | September 14, 2005 at 05:05 PM