My Boeing son just texted me while walking to his car in Everett saying "this weather is getting f*cking stupid" This is my son who loves any form of winter weather and doesn't ever complain about the rain (he is unlike me in many ways) and who is a staunch defender of Seattle to any outsider who dares to say bad things about our weather. He is basically a native of course since we moved him here at 18 months old. And even he is getting a little tired of cold and wet at this point. And yes... Jesse would slap him upside the head and tell him its good for the trees and its been perfectly fine in Portland. And my son would probably tell him to shut up! He usually tells me to shut up as well if I start complaining about anything.

Better?

We nearly had about a half an inch of rain in the short time these showers went through it looks like more showers are forming downwind from my location. It will be interesting to see if those showers get as intense as the ones that already came through

Ponderosa pine on JBLM, where they grow alongside Garry oaks. Took this from I-5, so it's pretty low resolution (sorry)

Yup. There is indeed a naturally-occuring population of Pinus monitcola (western white pine) from north Seattle to around Marysville. There are some Willamette valley ponderosa pines near Eugene though.