Although coziness is the platonic ideal during the season of mist persisting from September to June on the Salish Sea, physical and spiritual dampness is the inevitable reality. A Washingtonian's existence is tinted by a perpetual grey twilight, under which monotonous stretches of cabin fever spark intense creativity: a regional coping mechanism for sane survival under the cloud cover. It is beneath Seattle skies that I have developed into a well-rounded, powerful female, guided by small-town sensibilities and big...