Inversion Diversion

I just wanted to remind everyone--perhaps myself most of all--that winter won't last forever, no matter how much it feels like it will.  Spring will arrive and summer will follow.  We've just got to hold on until they get here.  This is why January feels like the longest month of the year.  Dangit.

Seasonal Transitions

As much as I enjoy Christmas time, I am more than a little irritated that the moment Halloween is over some of the local radio stations begin playing Christmas music.  What is wrong with celebrating Thanksgiving?  IS it too much to ask our retail friends to hold off the Christmas displays until we can pause a moment and just be grateful?

I guess Thanksgiving just doesn't make enough money, so there is no retail reason to celebrate it.  Even the grocery stores hesitate only a second before the turkeys, stuffing and pumpkin pies are discounted and the aisles are full of green and red packaged treats.

Too bad, really.  I think as a nation we could do a lot better if we were more aware of how much we have to be grateful for.  I appreciate that for our family each November.  Then, I must get the "bah, humbug" feeling as I realize that our family is quite blessed, and therefore we should just rein in all the excessive, frivolous gift getting.

Yes, Virgina, apparently I am the family Scrooge.

I do enjoy the giving part of Christmas, very much, so it is not a complete Scrooge-ification.  I just think we don't need any of the things that come with Christmas.  I think the kids don't appreciate all they already have, so why load on any more? I just wish we could instead channel that 'buying' energy into the feeling of Christmas, and that must be shared to be felt at all.

While I ponder this inevitable quandary, enjoy the final day of our Gratitude month--knowing full well you each are appreciated by me.  I have the dearest friends, and I am grateful for the examples you show and the lessons you give me year round!

Finding Relief for Myself

I asked Genius Golfer to help me find a new driver for the computer to again recognize my camera, so I can peel off the photos from yesterday.  The Boy had a football game yesterday (they lost, but he caught a nice pass just before a touchdown scoring play) and then the boys went back to the field and watched the other B-Team play.  So no computer help.

So, I figured out how to bypass the computer's Plan-A and got the photos off using my own Plan B.  Not so bad.  Though I still wonder aboutt what the deal it with my lame "communication" between the camera and computer.  But at least I am back in business.

Here are some of the fall colors I saw yesterday.  Happy Fall, y'all!

Fall Into It

Ahhh, "the times, they are a changin'."

The foothills are turning colors again.  This is a lovely time of year, full of rich colors, with summer temperatures hanging on. I do enjoy seeing this season coming on.  The down side, is once this season is done, the wicked winter season will be upon us.  Dangit.  Makes me hopeful already for spring.

Patterns and Uniforms

Recently I was happy to be able to purchase 5 new shirts. There was a sale and I had an additional discount. I was delighted to find several brightly colored shirts for spring and summer and many things that will match things I already have.

When I hung them up in our closet, I had a sudden realization that I wear a basic uniform every day--jeans and a solid color shirt.

I also realized that I had chosen a handful of new shirts that, together hanging in the closet, reminded me of Easter eggs. Apparently I am drawn to this bright spring-time palette. This must be another reason why I am so anxious for spring and summer weather--all my clothes fit these seasons.

Always A Promise

I had the chance this week to do some meditation and I focused primarily on the creation, the beauties that surround us. Now this week, I have had to look long and hard for things that make me feel happy or inspired in nature, since the sunshine has been playing tricks on me--coming out only to hide away for a few days again. I know I am ready for spring, and that thought led me to ponder the beauties of the earth.

I have tulip leaves poking out of the dirt in my front yard flower bed. I have columbine leaves mounding up and preparing for their blooms later in the season. The Girl planted a bag of seeds on the back raised bed where I can see it from the kitchen window that was marked "butterfly garden". She is hopeful that there will be many flowers with butterflies all summer long to look at while she or her brother does the dishes at the sink.

Even the lawn is slowly turning an under layer green while the thatchy yellowed winter grass is slowly shedding away. Everything is getting for Spring to really take hold.

I guess that is really beauty of the seasons. Even one a long, isolating, discouraging and cold as this winter was for me there is that ever present promise of spring. And some days--especially lately--the promise is all I have. But I'll take that and look forward to the day when the sun will shine brightly and the flowers will be in bloom and the grass will be warm and green and soft. I will soak it all in and enjoy each day because I know that in six or eight months, the wintry hibernation will begin again.

4th Day of Christmas...4 Seasons

I enjoy the four seasons we get to see and feel in Utah. It is beautiful to see the "circle of life" happen in such an organized, unhurried way. How one season helps the next and how the entire year is just segmented into portions that come and then go, leading the way for the next segment.

I love to see the changing foliage in the fall all along the mountains and even down in the valleys:

I love the heat of summer and the cool rush of water you feel as you dive into the swimming pool after having been out in the hot sun all afternoon:

And the promise of spring you can feel in the air as the snow has melted and the flowers begin to pop up and you can wear short sleeves with the car window open again:

We got some more snow last night. I like the snow under only certain and specific conditions. I always like to see it in the mountains. I like to know that the water shed is filling for our use in the coming months--like July and August. I like to see it falling at my house on Christmas eve after we are all home and are just scuttling around inside. This would be when I can read a book and sit in the rocking chair in the front bay window, watching the neighbor boys scrape their driveways and sidewalks. When I do not have to travel in it or venture out farther than my mailbox, that is how I like the snow.

(The photo illustrates it--but this photo is really from January 8th of this year; I'm not warm enough yet to go out and measure in the dark.)

Remind me again. This moisture is setting us all up for the summer months, right? We get it in the valley, again, why!? No one checked with me about today's forecast--I have places to go and people to see!

It's Baaaack...

Winter, that is. Today I had to pull the old winter coat out from the closet and wear it. Yuck. I know that winter is part of the circle of life and all that, but come on. I grew up where it would rain and then clear up. There was water enough with that, usually. Today I looked out the little window from the shower and saw bits of snow coming down. It was enough to send me back into the shower's heat, or back to bed, if I didn't already have the bed made and I was standing in the shower fully soaked by then.

Oh well. I noticed The Boy already had his snowboard and boots out to "check their size on me now, Mom". He is still looking for the snowboard helmet though, so it will be a while before he is really ready. Plus the first storm of the season is only a tease. All the skiers and snowboarders get excited, while the sun lovers among us grumble under our breath. We might get a mini-respite before the snow dumping begins but I know when that happens it is only a brief one. I just have to snuggle in for the long winter's offense and look forward to the spring's promise of sunshine.

I guess I can look forward to homemade rolls and steaming soup. You can't serve that in the 90 degree days of July. And I feel pretty confident that I have plenty of clothes that cover my body in the winter, when I wish I had less body to cover in the summer. "To everything there is a season." I suppose that is true. Its just too bad I like the warmer seasons better and they are now over. But I guess that gives me something to look forward to, right? Here's to snow that stays on the grass and off the streets, and road construction that finishes before the snow flies for good. And to a good coat that surprises you with $5 in the pocket when it comes out of the closet for winter.