(Upload your rainy day photos to our rain gallery )

I was looking for column ideas today around lunchtime so I did a little drive. I cruised down Sixth Avenue, turned on D street, went down Fourth Ave, turned down C, windshield wipers swishing at full speed. It had been raining but it started raining harder, bouncing off the streets. A couple of tourists crossed the street, faces cinched into their hoods. I had the heat on it the car. It felt like September.

I headed to Sagaya for some coffee.

"What's the mood of the city? "I asked the barista.

"Wet," somebody waiting for coffee butted in.

It has been raining for days. For weeks. As I write this there is a flood advisory in effect. I've been through the cozy, novel-reading soup-on-the-stove phase, the what-the-heck-just-go-outside-anyway phase, and now I just feel robbed.

How wet is it? According to the National Weather Service, so far July has been the eighth rainiest since they started keeping track.

We've had more than twice as much rain as the average. That's almost three inches this month (compared to a 1.27 inches usually). That's Juneau weather. Though, if it makes you feel better, Juneau has had a super wet month, with more than three inches of rain, also above average. Fairbanks has been abnormally wet as well.

We might have some clearing, but there's no sign it's going to let up, according the Weather Service.

Looking for a bright side (fewer mosquitoes?) I called the Cooperative Extension Service and talked with Michael Rasy who keeps track of plants and pests. He told me the rain might diminish the number of leaf miners and it' really good for trees. But, on the other hand, rainy weather keeps bees from making honey and from pollinating berry plants (though if they do get pollinated, the rain will make the berries fat). And, no, there are still going to be a lot of mosquitoes.

And, also, the mold counts are elevated.

All I want to do is eat cheese crackers with peanut butter out of the vending machine. What's the rain doing to you? (Bonus if you send pics/and or soup recipes). Have a bright side to all these dark clouds?