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Sat. November 4, 2006, 09:58am PST
It's always rainy in Tacoma
At least that's the thought of Alexander Graham Bell's wife Mabel upon her taking a trip on the Southern Pacific Rail Road through the area in December of 1889. While in Portland, she wrote the following about her visit to Tacoma.
"The climate at first hearing sounds perfect, warm in the winter and cool in the summer, never above 80° but enthusiasm cools when it is admitted that it rains nearly every day."
Letter from Mabel to husband Alexander Graham Bell
Portland, OR
Dec. 12, 1889
The letter is a part of a collection of Bell family letters and is a real gem with other musings about how very gritty thought of Tacoma even then.
Link to the letter (typed letter from pg 7-9)
Sat. November 4, 2006, 03:58pm PST
Speaking of rain...
I guess Alexander Graham Bell's wife was right -- there seems to be plenty to go around today. Just drove home from some time at work and was pretty much inundated from there to home. In town there was plenty of street flooding and even some manhole covers with burbles of water poking through the holes in its top. Driving on Schuster Parkway along the water there was yet more standing water some of which was deep enough for concern. Avoid this stuff whenever you can so as to avoid flooding your engine like I saw one disabled and steaming mini-van was. Since it's at the bottom of the North Tacoma bluffs, there was enough pressure in the storm drain system to shoot a geyser of air and water about 15' high along that same stretch of road. There even looked like there was some minor slippage along the hillside so joggers beware of mud and sliding stuff if Schuster Parkway is along your normal exercise route.
Up the 30th Street hill are plenty of beautiful tree-lined neighborhoods and there were a couple spots where people were trying to keep leaves out of the storm drains to prevent flooding. On one corner there was at least three or so neighbors all working in rain gear with rakes trying to clear one drain. Heck, even my poor alley neighbor had yet to clean his gutters for the season and had to deal with some flooding in his basement because water from the gutter poured into a window well. Poor guy's out there now cleaning his gutters in this foul weather.
No pictures of any of this but you should be happy I was driving rather than snapping photos. Take it easy out there.
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