The parts of Washington we visited are amazingly green and beautiful. But it's too rainy to live there, at least for me - and maybe even for many Washingtonians.
In planning our trip I followed the area's weather, and from December through May there were just a few days when it WASN'T raining. Then a few months before our trip, Washington had such heavy rain that the resulting floods closed down parts of Highway 5 - the state's main thoroughfare - and Highway 101, the route encircling Olympic National Park.
Meanwhile, California's climate is getting noticeably warmer. We’re stuck in a years-long drought, with dried-out rivers and dying trees. And our future holds the potential for a water shortage that could be disastrous.
If we all take a common sense approach to water conservation, we can improve California’s situation. But personal action won't be enough. Bigger ideas are also required.
How about this one, which occurred to us as we hiked the Hoh Rain Forest: The three West Coast states will join in building a gigantic aqueduct running from Washington, through Oregon and down to the Golden State. This deep, miles-wide canal will be engineered to carry an enormous amount of excess water from Washington south to where it’s needed - helping California to get greener, while also being used to extinguish the increasingly dangerous wildfires along the way. This is a huge project but it's not rocket science, and if the engineers need any guidance, they can Google "Roman aqueducts from 2,000 years ago."
And then, in the spirit of creative / improbable measures: In addition to relieving Washingtonians of their excessive water, we will give them our month of September. Yes the whole month.
It's a win-win: They get some much-needed light and warmth; we dispense with 30 of our most problematic weather days - those hot, end-of-summer dog days when we’re wishing for the cooler temperatures of Fall.
Some adjustments to this new calendar may be needed. For example, I won’t have any more birthdays. Which works for me.
In the meantime, let’s do all we can to value water. We’re going to need it.