Spring Fever

Isn't our little house just so quaint?

It's amazing what an amazing impact the weather can have. I'm not talking the hurricanes and mudslides and drought, although that can be pretty amazing, I'm talking on me personally. I hate to be cold, I'd rather be way too hot than a little bit chilly. I am generally pretty miserable in the winter, maybe it's seasonal affective disorder, maybe it's just because being cold sucks. But I am happiest in the middle of the desert in the middle of summer, dry 100 degree heat is my element. And, unfortunately this year spring has been very slow in coming.

An old photo of a foggy morning.

But today was a perfect weather day. I was leaving the house at around 6:30 this morning and it was foggy. By 7:00 when I pulled into the parking lot at work, the fog was so thick I couldn't see the road from my parking space. And unlike the fog in Utah, it smelled like wet dirt and grass, very springy. It was a nice change from the fog I experienced in Ogden, that was really smog, not fog, and always smelled like the dog food plant.  The smell made it feel like spring was finally on it's way. And that made me surprisingly happy. It made the morning at work seem to go by pretty fast.

I spent all day at work, inside. I can see the outside world, but I've learned that looking at it just makes it harder to stay inside. So I didn't really notice how the day went between 7:00 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. I saw a few people wearing shorts, but that is hardly an indicator of good weather, there are idiots who wear shorts year-round.

So I was pleasantly surprised when I put my coat on and walked outside and found it to be uncomfortably hot. I took my coat off, rolled the window down and drove home. I left the window down even on the highway going 55 (and only 55 because I don't speed). When I drove through Mt. Morris the sign at the bank said 77 degrees. It made me so happy to see that, it seems so long since I was warm.

While waiting in traffic in Mt. Morris it started to rain, big fat summer raindrops. It was awesome. I left the window down, I know it sounds odd but the smell of the rain on the hot truck and asphalt was one of the best smells I have ever smelled.

Sunset over the Finger Lakes Trail.

The rain was very localized and had stopped by the time I left the village. It hadn't rained at home so I didn't have to towel down the muddy dogs for the first time in like two weeks. I was so happy with the temperature I changed immediately out of my work clothes and into a tank top. I wanted to go for a walk but I can't handle both dogs on my own and Les was still at work. I guess I could have gone without the dogs, but that just seems mean. So I opened up some windows and enjoyed the breeze.

Little guy in the window. Notice the rainbow outside

The animals were really enjoying the open windows, we've never lived anywhere where we could have open windows that they could access. So I decided to take a photo of Dimitri sitting in the window, checking it out. It turned out to be a really crappy photo, metered on the outside instead of the cat. But it was then I noticed the little rainbow out the window. The cat ran off so I couldn't get another photo of him, so I decided to go outside and capture the rainbow. I got a few photos, but they all had power lines in them and I couldn't get a better view before the rainbow faded. I was so excited, it really felt like spring. I'm not sure why, but it felt like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders.

Summer rain in the driveway.

I went back inside and listened to the intermittent rain and enjoyed the smell of spring. While watching Jeopardy I noticed a really cool sunset. So I decided to photograph that as well. While outside I noticed another rainbow, in nearly the same spot as the other one, but much brighter and larger. It was the most incredible rainbow I have ever seen! (And I don't use exclamation points lightly.)

I wish I had a wider angle lens so I could show you the whole thing, but let's try it in sequence.

It's pretty rare, in my experience, to see the complete arch of a rainbow. It was like in a cartoon or something.

The double rainbow was more visible on this end.

My self portrait for the day.

I wandered around in the summer rain for like 20 minutes taking pictures. Walking around in the rain, nearly barefoot, with my hair down, bare arms, it was incredible. I felt connected to nature, I felt like a hippie, it was awesome. I was in an incredible mood and it felt great to be happy for no real reason. Even now it's after 10:00 at night and the windows are still open and it feels wonderful. Even though I have to get up at 5:30 tomorrow and work all day, today gave me the feeling I had when I was a kid and school was out for the summer and I didn't have a single care in the world. Just because of some nice weather.

The very end of the sunset, it was incredible from start to finish today.