Kimberly A. Cook

Military Romance Author

rain

Ready For Any Sun Break?

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by Kimberly A. Cook              (Twitter@    WarriorTales)

It’s March. It’s still raining. In buckets. There’ve been some limited reports of seeing sun breaks, but they are few, like leprechaun sightings. Gray is the current outside color. So besides buying bright spring color clothes I can’t wear due to the cold and wet, thought we might all like to be reminded of what the sun looks like.

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Sun on Suttle Lake.

 

There is also a request from my gardenia bush. I moved it into the garage to protect it from the cold for about a month, then finally put it back outside. It’s requesting to go back in the garage; it’s accusing me of waterboarding. Not me, Mother Nature!

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How cute is this sleeping baby alpaca in the sun? Cuddles!

So to give us all a perk up, here are a few favorite past photos which actually contain sun. Try to identify it!

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Heading out on the road again to the thunderegg beds! Luckily I’d just put new tires on Subie. Gorgeous scenery.

Sun in Eastern Oregon above, outside of Madras. They are under a Winter Storm warning right now. Sigh.

And last but not least!

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Sugar Beach, Maui, Hawaii. A vacation favorite.

Sun on my favorite beach in Maui. I checked and they have sun right now. With showers. But it’s 81 degrees! Let’s go to Maui. If only in our minds.

Might be time to start looking for some green beer. St. Patrick’s Day isn’t far away! Happy almost Spring?

California Dreaming?

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by Kimberly A. Cook                    (Twitter@  WarriorTales)

It’s raining. Again. It’s official, this is the wettest February on record in Oregon. Since before the pioneers. This time of year we should be looking forward to Spring break, posies popping out of the ground and humming vintage Beach Boys songs.

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This plaque set next to the squad of bunnies in the store. Beach trips! 

 

Instead I took a couple pictures of the first pink saxafrasia blooms yesterday and they blurred. Not enough light. It was 2 p.m. in the afternoon! But there are some soggy buds on the trees and the brave daffodils are trying to rise into the air once again. I need to get them life vests.

Of course, it’s pouring in California too. Good news for them, their drought is over. Bad news, Mother Nature is still pouring on the water. Just to be sure I guess. Maybe she’s been chatting with Smokey Bear. (I call him Smokey the Bear but it appears he’s changed his name. Hard to keep up.)

Since I prefer to live in denial these days, I am going to assume the sun will come out again and we will have a fabulous Spring. Plans for planting my garden pots, more development in the Fairy Rock Garden and wearing less than four layers of clothes fill my mind. Naked painted toes! Shorts! No parkas! I get excited so easily.

We can do this. We can plan for sun. Warm breezes. Farmer’s markets. It will happen. Raspberries. Visiting alpacas. Fresh pears. Gliding back and forth in the lawn swing on a warm summer’s eve smelling neighbor’s BBQ and hearing the birdies sing.

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Farmer’s Market bounty. Everything comes back to food…..

 

In the meantime I guess we can take a hint from Spec Ops Cat and spend some time like he did yesterday. Find a cushy bed and a fuzzy blanket. Proceed to tunnel, twist and turn into a cat burrito. Cats are so smart.

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Yes, Spec Ops Cat is inside that lump. Cats rule! 

 

Wake me when it’s Spring!

Signs of Spring?

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by Kimberly A. Cook               (Twitter@ WarriorTales)

Spent part of Sunday dragging things out of the house into the garage between football games; some folks call it cleaning, I call it pile management. On one such trip I heard a chorus of birds that sounded like an invasion. Looking up I tried to find geese, but no birds.

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A reminder of one of my favorite roses, the Double Delight. These blooms will return right after Spring!  

 

Following the cacophony around to the front of the house, I spied a bird convention taking place across the street in a very large tree. Birds were packed in like sardines; which is an odd visual if you think about it.

Too dark outside to grab the camera, I fished the camcorder out and tried to focus and get the sound. Got a few clips, but still couldn’t tell which kind of birds. Maybe crows? Either way, it’s a sure sign of Spring when the birdies start to return and congregate.

I noticed the heads of daffodils peaking above the ground over at my Mom’s house on Saturday. Since she’s in a warmer area her daffodils always beat my daffodils out of the ground. Her yard maintenance folks had also trimmed the roses, which I wait to do until President’s Day. Yet another sign of Spring.

Since we were drowned in December with 17 inches of rain, any sign of the round yellow orb causes us to rush out of our homes like Meerkats and squint at the sky. Monday was a no rain day and I had to scramble to find my sunglasses. That sun thing is bright!

Of course, according to the retail world, Valentine’s Day shopping started two days after Christmas. I kid you not. I went to the store to find holiday bows and wrapping on sale.

The bows had vanished and the only gift wrapping paper left was the weird designs, you know the ones, grumpy Santa’s, odd elves and goth reindeer. I walked around the end of the holiday treats on markdown and smacked into the Valentine’s Day candy. Rows of it. On December 28th!

While I can’t wait for Spring, my favorite time of year, I think I’ll pay attention to nature’s calendar and ignore the retail buying calendar. On Jan. 4th we had snow and ice. This past weekend the retail ads had bikinis on sale. Stock up on flip flops now!

Got signs of Spring?