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Charlotte Rains Dixon  

Rain and Writing

drops_wallpaper_texture_225146_lWe woke to rain in Portland this morning and I cheered. I know, I know, but as a native Oregonian, I love the rain. Plus it had been humid (by our standards) for awhile and it felt like we needed a good storm to clear it out.  And that meant I didn’t have to water the garden, and that the gamble I took on not watering my son’s yard (we’re caring for his house while they are in Hawaii)  yesterday paid off.

The sky is already brightening here, which means I probably get to go to my grandsons’ swim appointment after all. But today’s rain reminded me of my favorite writing and rain quote ever, by Tom Robbins:

“People ask me who I write for, I tell them I write for the rain.”

The funny thing is, this quote exists only in memory as a part of an article about Robbins in Esquire.  Despite wasting tons of time exhaustive searches looking for the quote I’ve never been able to actually find it. In honor of the rain this morning, I looked for it again and guess what came up?  A couple of my old (2011) posts.  The one that mentions the quote doesn’t have much of value in it, but another one did, including some gems from Annie Proulx (that link goes to a great interview with her) and Chris Guillebeau.

So, in lieu of a Five on Friday post, I give you this link.

(And, in a lovely bit of synchronicity, when I looked up a link on Robbins, it turns out that today is his birthday. Boo-yah! And happy birthday, Tom.)

0 thoughts on “Rain and Writing

  1. J.D.

    I’ve heard that, like our Eskimo friends to the north and their white stuff, people in Portland have 26 names for rain.

    1. Charlotte Rains dixon

      Ha! I think it’s true.

  2. Don Williams

    Here on the east coast, just like Portland, my home town of Saint it also rains a lot and I, just like you, l absolutely love it! Not only do I not need to water the gardens (four of the bloody things), I fine the rain soothing, comforting and ever so relaxing. It makes writing, for me, though, a little harder as it puts me in a dream state, dreaming, as I tend to do, of being deep in the wild woods, which is by far my favorite place to be.

    1. Charlotte Rains dixon

      I agree on everything you wrote about the rain, Don. I think you maybe have to be born into a rainy climate to love it like we do. Kindred spirits!

  3. Beth

    I’ve missed you, Charlotte — so nice to return and find you humming along. I look forward to catching up and getting plugged in again. I love rain, too, but here on Florida’s Gulf coast, near Pensacola, we’ve been having almost daily heavy rain interspersed with steam punctuated with thunderstorms and lightning bolts. I stay so hot (despite a/c) I’ve begun to wonder if I’m going back into menopause!

    1. Charlotte Rains dixon

      Oh my goodness, Beth, I’ve missed you, too! I’ll head over to your blog and see what’s up with you. I wish we got thunderstorms here, but they happen rarely. I was so afraid of them as a child but now I love them!

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