Greenery

A congregant recently shared a joke with me: "In Seattle, what do you call the day that follows two days of cold and rain?"  The answer?  "Monday."

The Seattle stereotype is that we are the "Rain City."  In fact, we rank far below Baltimore, Boston, Detroit, and New York in average annual precipitation, measured in inches.  But, the perception sticks.  And while we complain from time-to-time, most of us are willing to "stick it out" (you rarely see a true Seattle resident using an umbrella) because we know what the benefit is: the rains of winter and spring give rise to lush greenery during the summer-- bright trees and flowers, ripe berries, and other produce of the Pacific Northwest couldn't exist without that rain.

Joe Raposo's "Bein' Green," originally composed for Kermit the Frog to sing on Sesame Street, and re-recorded by numerous artists over the years, begins with a lament about being green, before the bridge leads us to a message of hope:

But green is the color of spring
And green can be cool and friendly-like
And green can be big like a mountain
Or important like a river
Or tall like a tree.

And the song concludes:

When green is all there is to be
It could tend to make you wonder why
But why wonder, why wonder?
I am green, and it'll do fine
It's beautiful, and I think it's what I want to be

So, why wonder?  Enjoy the rebirth of spring, and enjoy being green.

Please note: I do not own the video below and make no claim to it...copyrights belong to all applicable owners.