If you’re new to the Denver area and you’re worried that today’s rainy weather is a harbinger of gray skies to last until next spring, fear not. This is a rare treat here. The slogan “Colorful Colorado” has always seemed like an odd choice to me, driving hither and yon across this brown and yellow state, because we just don’t get that much precipitation. Typically, there’s a few weeks in the spring when things green up really quickly, then the rest of the year is a slow drying out to yellow and brown. I mean, brown and yellow are colors. Maybe we have the most shades of brown and yellow? Is that technically “colorful”?
Of course there’s color in the mountains, especially in springtime when the wildflowers bloom. And we have epic sunsets here. But the majority of Coloradans live on the Front Range and the eastern plains. Plains. Flat. Not the mountains. Picture the Ingalls family and their covered wagon and an infinite horizon in all directions. Brown. And yellow!
I’ve always felt pressure to be outside on sunny days. Maybe this is because I’m a transplant from Michigan (36 years ago, but still…) where gray skies can go on for a long time. Long enough that I’ve been there and felt claustrophobic on the third day of not seeing blue sky. When the weather breaks there, I feel a panicked urgency to get outdoors and not take it for granted! This feeling is definitely compounded by the fact that Coloradans are generally very outdoorsy anyway.
I guess I brought that feeling with me to Colorado and never adapted to my new climate? The weather here is so dry and sunny most of the time, I get to the point that I feel like, “Can I have a break already?!?” I love coziness. My middle name could be Hygge. I feel an enormous relief when I wake up and it’s cold and damp outside. “Oh, I guess we don’t have to go on a hike or to an outdoor market or work in the yard today!” It means I’m not “wasting” a nice day by reading a book for an hour or watching a movie with the kids in the middle of a Saturday.
Obviously, I find this a nice problem to have or I’d pack up and head to Washington. Or the UK. I realize, intellectually, that I can choose to enjoy all of my favorite rainy-day activities regardless of what’s happening outside, but somehow my weird programming rears its ugly head on a perfectly clear-skied fall day. “You should be outside taking advantage of that.”
Well, today it’s rainy and cool for the first time this fall, and I’m savoring it. It’s a work day so I’m not going to bake and lounge around, but even the coffee tastes better to me when I look outside and see the leaves dripping from a light drizzle of rain.
Does your brain guilt-trip you into “using” sunny days? Do you think it’s a cultural/regional thing? Please comment and let me know!
Related content: Fall is a great time to visit Glenwood Springs, Colorado.
What I’m reading: City of Girls by Elizabeth Gilbert.
What I’m listening to: Do It Scared podcast by Ruth Soukup.