How do you get used to the rain? Upside, downside...

[heavens54]

Does the rain change your day? Does it change your plans? Do you still jog in it, take the dogs out for a walk? Do your dogs live in dog houses at night? Or does everyone build an overhang for them? What about sports? Does everyone just carry on as if there is no rain on the football, baseball, etc going on?

[Larry Caldwell]

Originally Posted by heavens54

Thanks for all of your responses.

OK, so, tell me about the winds...

And I guess you are saying that this rain doesn't ever get to you? You are used to it? Does it ever get to you?

The climate is perfect for people who enjoy outdoor activity, with the emphasis on activity. The cool weather makes it a snap to dispose of excess body heat. If you are into playing football, basketball or soccer, cutting and splitting firewood, jogging, digging in your garden, or any other exothermic activity, you will find Oregon weather to be ideal. It is no accident that Nike was founded in Oregon, by a U of O track coach.

You won't melt. Really. After having visited Palm Springs and Phoenix, it is amazing to me that people want to live somewhere the weather will kill an unprotected person.

You just have to make the transition from looking at the weather to living it. Forget your afternoon siestas. Forget lazing around by the pool, or lazing around anywhere else, for that matter. Get up and move. If you do that, the weather is perfect. If you let a little rain turn you into a couch potato, you will probably die an early death.

[Larry Caldwell]

Originally Posted by heavens54

Does the rain change your day? Does it change your plans? Do you still jog in it, take the dogs out for a walk? Do your dogs live in dog houses at night? Or does everyone build an overhang for them? What about sports? Does everyone just carry on as if there is no rain on the football, baseball, etc going on?

Sunshine changes my plans. When it gets over 80 degrees, I find strenuous activity to be uncomfortable. There's nothing like a 90 degree day to ruin my plans.

My dogs love rain. My wife and I refer to it as "spaniel weather". They frolic and splash and dig. We run them through the creek to wash the mud off, then towel them down as they come in the door. Instead of throwing out old bath towels, we keep a basket of them by the back door. The dogs love the ritual of being toweled all over and dried off.

We built a kennel for the dogs. It is a half covered concrete slab with good drainage, surrounded and partitioned by chain link fence, an elevated wood lounging platform on the sunny part of the slab, and PVC Igloo dog houses under the covered portion, with plush sleeping pads inside the dog house. The dogs can stay out of the mud, dry, comfortable, and sheltered from the wind, rain or sun. When we get home, we let the dogs out to run and come in the house.

Oregon weather was made for outdoor sports. Baseball and tennis may get rained out, but everything else proceeds rain or shine. The big winter storms start coming in November, and there is a tradition of holding an amateur "Toilet Bowl" football game around the end of November, after things get good and muddy. You will learn not to jog in cotton sweats on a rainy day. I will leave you to discover the reason on your own. You will only do it once.

[StealthRabbit]

Originally Posted by heavens54

Does the rain change your day? Does it change your plans? Do you still jog in it, take the dogs out for a walk? Do your dogs live in dog houses at night? Or does everyone build an overhang for them? What about sports? Does everyone just carry on as if there is no rain on the football, baseball, etc going on?

rain seldom changes plans for urban folks- you just do everything in the rain (games, golf, dogs, bike, jog, wash car, mow lawn...) - remember it is usually not pouring, just drizzle / showers

dogs do fine with an overhang, or house. And they frequently sit out in the rain just looking off into the forest. (we even have one cat that does that...)

Rain frequently changes my plans (country / farming / excavation / building).
It is certain to rain 10 minutes after you have sprayed your fruit trees for mold (after waiting 3 weeks for a rain break). Then you have the expense and time waste, because you must do it again.

Same with excavation and building. Most things go year-round on the 'west-side', but you need to enjoy tromping around in 20# boots and slipping into ditches. And it requires LOTS of gravel which sinks into the eternally deep mudhole. (at $400/ load). It is very important to place landscape fabric under your driveway (before rocking).