snow, wind, rain and more snow...

We've been having some nasty weather here in the lovely Southwestern US. We live in the high desert, and contrary to popular understanding we DO get some snow (which is usually gone in less than a day, and I personally like it that way...) We get our share of rain, enough usually to keep desert flora and fauna alive, and we get a LOT of wind, because our high desert valley is, for the most part, a huge expanse between the mountain ranges. In fact, WIND is something you just have to learn to live with, if you are going to live in any part of the beautiful SW.

Having started with that description, the last week has been kind of crazy, weather wise, around here. On Monday and Tuesday the weather was typical, sunny, a bit nippy, breezy, and clear... simply put, it was BEAUTIFUL. So while out running some essential errands with hubby, we took a very quick detour to a lake close by, so that I could load up my camera with pictures of some beautiful scenery and stunning close-ups of AZ beauty... (without getting in a car, because not only am I still sick and coughing, I really don't want to get on the roads in bad weather...) I barely left the vehicle, but it was nice to focus my camera's eye on the lovely vistas that make up our corner of the world. I had fun just snapping scenery while we were moving very fast along the highway.

Then, everything changed. It was as though the whole of AZ was magically transported to another part of the country. Over the next 3 nights we were hit by back to back storm systems that brought tons of very cold precipitation... Flooding, road closures, mud, rock, and snow slides are happening more and more each day since the weather change. Each morning for days, people unaccustomed to it ~ have been waking to white lanscapes and treacherous roads to maneuver. Schools had to close because we don't have the equipment necessary to clear even the main roads fast enough to assure safety for the children. Local colleges closed for the same reason, and ~ or because crossing the campus was dangerous to healthy limbs walking on shoes not meant for snow and ice covered concrete. Fender benders and vehicles slide offs have become the sad reality for too many local motorists... A couple of days ago some roofs collapsed in a town 90 miles northeast of us. It's just in many ways so nasty, and something most people here see a lot less often than in other places. So, it's something to "write home about"... Even though we ARE grateful for the precipitation, HONEST, it's time for us to be returned to our lovely normal weather conditions.

Of course during this tme period, there was also the joy of "snow days" for students and teachers, who got time off to play... and there is the beauty of the moment, when the white landscape is so pleasing to the eye... I caught some of that beauty around my part of our small community and also added those pictures to my project 365, if you are interested they will be posting over the next few days.

So when I woke up this morning to even more snow, I wasn't shocked... I'm just ready for our milder AZ weather to return to us, and soon please... I have it from some reliable sources that Oregon and Washington have been enjoying our normal weather this week, but as much as I love you guys... we want it BACK..! ha ha ha

...mine!

The fine art of toy take away has been learned in our house... hahaha

Tucker was an "only dog" for a really long time (3+ years). I mean, that is a long time in dog years... and I worried that he would resent the new puppy. But he and Chloe have great fun playing. In fact HE is like a completely different dog. He's very willing to share food, water, and toys... and even a rousing game of tug is only fun until the other stops...

Then, they play "chase"... the stampede is sometimes DEAFENING... LOL

...a walk in the crisp winter air.

I got to spend yesterday, all day with hubby, grocery shopping, running errands, and then strolling though the outer grounds of a Museum so that I could fill up the card with pictures that I might be able to use for my project 365... (I have truly exhausted my indoor opportunities at home for a while... LOL) and out of dozens of pictures I found only 5 that made the grade...


It was such a lovely day and my camera just HAD to take some pictures of "us"...


These don't fit my plans for my project, and I post them here for friend and family that don't "facebook".

...amendment on the photo journal idea

After a few more email exchanges over the last couple days with some wonderful friends (especially "Phyllis",) and extra encouragement from friends on facebook I have decided to "try" and keep up with the BIGGER project after all... However since it will be so many days of photos, I am starting a new blog for it. I'm calling it:

project 365 pollyanna style...

If you would like to join me, and create your own project, please send me a link to your photos/blog too. I am also backdating a few posts and including more photos from the last few days, so that the blog starts on January 1st. This just makes it easier for me to track where I am in this quest. A link for the project will stay available on the side menu of this main blog.

Thanks to all my friends (and again, especially to Phil) for encouraging me to step outside my comfort zone and try to do this... It should certainly be interesting, for me.

a photo journal...

My friend that is really into landscape photography (as in semi-pro, in southeastern Utah,) on finding out that I got a cool new camera at Christmas, suggested that I post one new picture every day... I gather from what she said this is called a "Project 365". My first thought? 365 pictures in the same # of days? Geez, that's like a picture a day for a year. No way Phyllis Diller.! (I jokingly call her that, because her name starts with Phil... and she and I go WAY back, and it's well, a JOKE... She looks nothing like Phyllis Diller, more like a very young and pretty Donna Reed if you ask me. But that is beside the point...) That's way too dedicated for this slacker, dear friend!

Having said that Phil, darling... I "will" try for 52 pix in one year... That would be relatively, one picture a week. Still, I won't promise to post these pictures on the same day each week... and if I miss a week I will TRY to catch up by posting two the next week... BUT... NO PROMISES. Period.! Do you understand, dearheart? And NO guilt, you hear? hahahahaha You know I love ya', but seriously Phil, I am simply NOT a photographer, and you can't use the "but you have that cool camera that you simply need to use", card... OK? I KNOW have a phenomenal camera now, but you need to remember that my youngest is much better (and I mean SERIOUSLY, much better,) at using it right now, than "I" may ever be...

There... Now that the ground rules are laid out, here goes:

EDITED: because of a change in plans... see my Jan 5th 2010 post. This picture has been moved to a new blog.

...the perfect ten?

...it'll never happen... No year will ever be a perfect ten.

So, then the trick is to make each day into a perfect 10 or maybe just an "almost 10". At the end of those kinds of years you can look at it and think: wow, great year..!

I just had one of those years... wasn't perfect, wasn't even good or terrific some days... but over all, it was a great year. And because I know me, and hubby, and I know the rest of my family... this coming year will be an "almost 10 year" again... Be assured we'll have huge challenges, and irritating setbacks, and maybe even a few knee bending emergencies... but... at the end of this coming year we will be able to look back and see all the good moments.

I am so completely blessed to be a part of a family that lives life that way. It's a "new canvas for a year of joy to paint" for us. I can't remember where I read that, but it fits~!