I recently returned to Columbus (Ohio) after a week in Seattle, WA on vacation. When I mention having visited Seattle, most people ask why we went there, if we had family or what the deal was. People in our hotel even asked why we would want to visit Seattle from Ohio. One reason is shown in this photo – flatness.
It is flat here, as is much of the Midwest. On a clear day like today you can see for miles and miles. Much of our time in the Northwest was cloudy, overcast, with fast-moving clouds blowing from west to east, surrounded by mountains and water. It was beautiful and at some point each day there was sun that poked through the clouds.
People go on about how there are no sunny days in Seattle, it’s rainy, gray, and I’ve read there are only 71 days of sunshine each year. But Columbus does only one better at 72 sunny days per year. So what am I saying? I think the flatness that makes the gray more apparent here. Because there is little change in elevation, your peripheral vision fills up with these wide open gray skies.