Everybody talks about the weather...

Californians take note: same ol', same ol' this time of year in the good ol' PNW. Whatever. At least the trees are green. And the grass. And the bushes. And the fence. And the deck. And the hot tub steps. And the hot tub.

Anything here, given enough time, can turn the shade of our state flag and bear witness to the state nickname. Anything. I was told this when I first moved here (over ten years ago! Yikes!), and didn't really believe the extent of it until my new friend Travis (Vick, for those of you who know the guy) was giving me a lift in his dad's 1969 Toyota pickup.

Now, those of you who drive Toyotas know they are quite literally engineered to drive either A) forever or B) until you drive it into the ground through abuse and/or neglect. Well, the Vick family Toyota was the same vintage as yours truly in 1995 (26, for the math impaired out there), and appeared not ever to have been garaged in that entire time. No disrespect meant to the Vicks here - trucks are, by their very nature, work vehicles, and aren't always kept showroom pristine.

This truck was definitely not showroom pristine.

The paint was somewhere between faded-out red and late-term rust. The seats, as they were, posed a serious risk of exposing one to tetanus through their exposed springs. The body had a number of dents and dings, and several rusted-out spots. It was inside one of these rusted-out spots that I was forever changed regarding the tendency of everything that stands still in Western Washington (and even some things that move) eventually gets a little green to it.

See, the truck actually had moss growing on it.

Moss. Growing. On. It.

To a recent California transplant, who, at one time of his life, spent every single weekend washing and waxing his prized (hah!) 1986 Hyundai Excel until he could see his face in the paint, this was simply beyond my scope of comprehension.

But, now, I understand. The screenshot above, cropped to show my Yahoo! Weather Widget, tells the tale.

We get a lot of rain in these parts. Yuppers. That we do.