We’ve been traveling to the Pacific Northwest for many years. Back in the 1980’s my sister moved to Portland, Oregon, and a brother to Whidbey Island in the Puget Sound. We would come when we were able to visit family and to experience the life of a region of the country that was very different from our own. Living in North Dakota and then in Boise, Idaho, we would come from dry places to visit the lush temperate rain forest of the coastal region. The giant trees amazed us. The Douglas Fir, Cedar and Hemlock trees grow to 150’ high. The undergrowth of ferns and other plants is lush and rich.

Our son went to college in Forest Grove, Oregon and, after graduate school in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, moved to Olympia Washington, where his family has lived since. We try to make a trip to Olympia once each year to visit his family and to share in their activities. They live very close to the Puget Sound, for paddling an rowing. They live right next to the Chehalis Trail for walking and biking. The wider area of Olympia, Tacoma and Seattle is filled with all kinds of museums and other very interesting things to visit and see. And the seacoast is less than an hour’s drive away.

Back in the days when we lived in Boise, I began to collect kites. I have numerous controlled kites. Some are flown with two lines, some with four. By manipulating the lines, I can control the direction of the kite, climbing and falling, turning left and right. Sometimes I fly multiple kites in trains.

This year, however, our trip is very different than any other year that I can remember. First of all, after a very dry winter in the hills, we have a very wet May and June. Our Mother’s Day Blizzard was the start of a month of snow or rain almost every day. There were flash floods and the reservoirs of the hills all filled to capacity. Throughout the summer there have been additional showers and the hills have remained very green. I don’t think that I’ve ever seen them so green in August. Even with the now drying conditions and the start of a season of small fires, predominantly lightning-started, we know that this will be a good year of growth for most of the plants in the hills.

Driving through southeast Montana was pretty impressive, with lots of green left in the rolling hills. The hay crop in the dryland was impressive, with the second cutting being baled and the combines were in the field for what appeared to be a bumper wheat crop.

After we crossed the continental divide, however, it was a different world. Eastern Washington was dry and the grain was stunted and short. It looked to be a short harvest and they were late getting the combines into the field. There were some places where it looked like they might not even bother to pull the combines into the barley. The short grain makes nutritious winter pasture for cattle and it might be the most cost effective not to spend the money on harvesting such a small yield.

The Cascades, normally lush and green, were dry. There was plenty of evidence of recent fires and the grass was tinder dry. There were no burn regulations posted in every campsite and the people were nervous about additional fires.

Here in Olympia it looks like an early autumn. The grasses are all dry and yellowed and even the trees are starting to turn color. The normally lush undergrowth is dry and crackles as you walk through it.

I can’t remember ever paying a visit to the Pacific region when it was greener back home than it is here.

This world with its massive weather patterns and cycles of wet and dry is full of surprises even for the most trained and astute of observers. Of course our observations are based on very short amounts of time spent in this area. It is not our home. We come for a visit for one or two weeks a year, often in the summer. We don’t really know the weather patterns. Next to the camper are trees that have been around for more than a century. They have seen dry seasons and wet seasons and have developed the ability to survive huge swings in temperature and moisture levels. They will survive this drought and live to see another wet season.

The earth is more resilient than we might think. Changes in climate have produced dramatic shifts in life and activities on the planet over the eons. Those who study geological history and archaeology know of times of global warming and cooling, of wetter and dryer years in certain places, and of dramatic shifts in climate that have taken place over the long haul. Our lives are too short to give us a long-term perspective on the forces that shape the weather.

Having said that, the human impact on the planet has been dramatic, especially considering the shortness of time that we have been around. We are consuming fossil fuels at a rate that is way faster than they can be produced. Our current rate of consumption of these items is not sustainable. Our population is growing at such a rate that some areas of the planet are nearing capacity and food distribution is a problem. More shifts in the climate most likely will result in major food shortages in some areas.

There is much of the world and its dynamics that I don’t understand. But I do notice some changes.

Back when we lived in North Dakota, it seemed like whatever the weather, the locals would report that it was unusual. If it was hot they would say, “It usually isn’t this hot her.” If it was cold, “It usually doesn’t get this cold.” The same for rain or dry weather. Every bit of weather we experienced was unusual. Perhaps they got it right.

Each bit of weather is a bit of a surprise. And surprise can bring delight. May we continue to be surprised and delighted by the gifts of this earth.

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