Gloomy season pics - photos ONLY (Portland: how much, home, school)

[Pfhtex]

Hey how about some pics of the dreaded gloomy season? We have a ton of beautiful Spring and Summer photos, but can people please post what some call the "bad side" of living here?

[Wicked Felina]

This is all I have for you. Taken in early March if I remember correctly. Nice challenge you put out there!

[Neal2009]

This was taken in mid March. The contrast between Summer and the other months here is unbelievable, when you come here in the summer, you cannot imagine it being rainy and gloomy and vice versa in the summer.

[sayulita]

Gotta put in my 2 cents here. I don't have any pictures to put up but here's a "picture" to put in your head. Imagine after you've driven home from work on a cold, gloomy, rainy day as shown above. You get home, change into your sweats, fire up the furnace and light some candles. Get something delicious simmering on the stove and put on your favorite CD. Curl up in your favorite chair with your hot dinner, pull out the book you are reading, cover your lap with a nice, soft throw and revel in the coziness. Go to sleep listening to the rain on your roof.
See? It's not so bad!

[Élan vital]

sounds just heavenly!!

Originally Posted by sayulita

Gotta put in my 2 cents here. I don't have any pictures to put up but here's a "picture" to put in your head. Imagine after you've driven home from work on a cold, gloomy, rainy day as shown above. You get home, change into your sweats, fire up the furnace and light some candles. Get something delicious simmering on the stove and put on your favorite CD. Curl up in your favorite chair with your hot dinner, pull out the book you are reading, cover your lap with a nice, soft throw and revel in the coziness. Go to sleep listening to the rain on your roof.
See? It's not so bad!

[sayulita]

It is heavenly- to me! I recently spent an extended period in Mexico and I can't tell you how much I missed cloudy, cool, rainy days and just feeling cozy. I know a lot of folks have a hard time with too many gray days but I seem to have sort of a reverse SAD. I get really cranky when there are too many sunny days in a row. Portland is perfect for me - all year around. Well except when we get snow and ice and the city is paralyzed. Hate that.

[TurcoLoco]

Different strokes for different folks, right? Besides, too much of anything can get to me!

Originally Posted by sayulita

Well except when we get snow and ice and the city is paralyzed. Hate that.

Please do elaborate on this part please, what do you mean the city gets paralyzed with ice/snow?

[sayulita]

Well although we rarely get snow and ice here, it does happen. A couple feet of snow is unusual, so when it happens, maybe once a year on average, the city has trouble coping. Lots of folks don't know how to drive in it and do anyway. The snowplows only do the major roads. leaving side street folks to fend for themselves. We also do not have thousands of snowplows because it's so in frequent. When the cold air mixes with rain in the upper atmosphere, we get ice all over, which is really hard to cope with anywhere. Generally we all just ride it out, do the best we can to get to work and school, if they're open, and wait for the inevitable warming and melting. Like I said, maybe once a year and every few years, like last December, a long lasting and ugly 2 weeks of snow, ice and cold air. But we all survived. Actually they did. I was in Mexico watching it all online. Tee hee! Still, the beauty of the rest of the seasons far outweighs the occasional weather "event".

[Neal2009]

Nothing wrong with showing pictures of Portland during the gloomy season. I wish instead of putting so much emphasis on SAD, people would start emphasizing that many people learn to love the cloudy days, even after hating them initially. I know so many people who struggled intitially only to fall in love with thick mass layer of clouds that covers the city during most months. Plus, the appreciation for the sun here is unlike any other place in the world. Thats why the summer is so vibrant and amazing here, people soak in those sun rays like desert travelers soaking up the water from an oasis after a long journey through endless sand and heat. So no need to think this is a negative post, it is merely preparing those considering a move here for the brilliance of the greyness.

[Wicked Felina]

Originally Posted by Neal2009

So no need to think this is a negative post, it is merely preparing those considering a move here for the brilliance of the greyness.

My thoughts, exactly! "Brilliance of greyness" - you are a poet! Loved saluita's first post, too.

I hope this thread doesn't get into one of those "we had precisely X seconds of sunshine versus San Diego, so the weather is not that much different here". It is different. The weather here is not for everyone & a lot of the time our weather is grey - and brilliant!