If April shower bring May flowers, May showers bring only loud complaints. Especially if it should dare to rain on the weekend! Meanwhile, I'm still loving this stormy spring. Maybe it's because I'm still so busy with work that I hardly have time to get outdoors, but I can't get enough of the rain drenched views out my window. All this rain just makes the few days (or hours) of sunshine all the more enjoyable. Between the many showers this week, we did have a few brief bursts of sun at times that I was able to make it outdoors. All the rain has certainly made for a green and flower-filled May. Maybe it's the grey skies, but blooms seem more vibrant than usual this year.
Read moreLife: Week 18
I thought we'd had an impressively stormy spring already, but this past week was especially dramatic. The week started cool and overcast, but Wednesday morning the the sun was shining and temperature began to climb. Throughout the afternoon, clouds began to gather and conspire, eventually deciding on a torrential downpour to lull me to sleep that night. Thursday, along with the previously mentioned rain, saw a series of intense thunderstorms, with more lightning than we see in most seasons packed into one day! By Friday morning, the sun was once again shining, as if nothing had happened. Andy and I had taken Friday off to drive to Wenatchee for his dad's 60th birthday. After the storm, the rivers were crashing alongside the highway well above their usual spring levels, and I could barely resist the temptation to stop for photos or even a short hike. With Andy driving there were no stops, and we made good time to our destination.
Read moreLife: Week 17
After a lovely weekend spent on Whidbey Island, Monday morning, we had to pack up and head home. I always find it hard to leave Whidbey, but it's especially difficult when the sun is shining. After a stormy weekend, we the island sent us off with beautiful weather, so before heading home, we stopped for lunch on the patio of one of our favorite cafes on the island. By Monday night, back at home, it was once again raining.
I think at this point in our excessively soggy winter and spring, even those who love the rain are over it. Not me though! While I'm not happy about the amount of snow that's left in the Cascades, that will continue to linger well into summer, I'm loving all this wet weather! I always sleep better with the sound of a good storm as my lullaby, and all this wet weather has been keeping crowds down on trails! I've been on several hikes this year on popular trails I expected to be packed with other hikers, only to find peaceful, uncrowded trails. On our hike to Barclay Lake this past Saturday, we saw only a few people. It was chilly and overcast, but still it was a surprise to have such a popular trail mostly to ourselves.
Read moreLife: Week 16
The weather has continued to swing wildly from rain to sun - like Mother Nature has bipolar disorder. It's what I love most about spring. Work this week continued to be hectic, as it will for at least the next month. Thankfully we had plans Friday evening to head to Whidbey for a relaxing weekend to celebrate my birthday. For the first time in months, I spent most of a morning reading a book. Over the weekend, we did manage to leave the cabin on a few occasions for visits to my favorite bookstore and restaurant, as well as a morning spent exploring the blooming rhododendrons at Meerkerk Gardens, but mostly we curled up indoors. There are few places I'd rather be than at the cabin with a fire crackling in the old cast-iron stove, watching the ever-shifting view of a spring storm.
Read moreLife: Week 15
It's been an unpredictable, stormy spring. Most days, it would rain off and on all day, but in the evening there would be a few hours of clear weather, giving me just enough time for a walk before dinner. With frequent, rapidly passing downpours, during these period of sun the trees and their new green leaves would sparkle with accumulated raindrops. As much as I'm looking forward to the long, sunny days of summer, I'll miss this beautiful, erratic spring weather. By the weekend, it was sunny and warm - a little preview of summer, and the perfect weather for our April hike with the Alpine Trails Book Club.
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