Winter is just around the corner :(

I decided it's time to post about something other than missing my son. I still do miss him, but it's getting easier to make it through a day without falling apart emotionally. We are beginning to settle into a routine - he and we - wherein he calls in the evening, usually every day. If he doesn't call, we don't freak out. We understand he's busy, hopefully studying, but more likely playing foosball at the girl's dorm (Ballard), or poker with the guys in McMillan (Mac), or playing video games with Nathan and others in the dorm. We've also been fortunate in that we went to Spokane Sunday and took him to lunch along with our daughter and her family. We needed a "Jonathan fix" and the two hours we spent with him will tide us over for a while. It's so great to see him so happy at college. It is truly everything high school never was. He is in his element there and we couldn't be happier for him.

Now, on to other things. It is raining so hard it's as if Hurricane Ivan is affecting even the Panhandle of Idaho. It has been pouring off and on all day. The leaves on the trees are already beginning to turn. It seems too early for that to be taking place. I've heard the Farmer's Almanac has predicted a brutal winter, but who believes in that stuff. Psh! Not I! I'm still holding out for a nice, long Indian Summer between now and the first snowfall.

I am not a fan of winter. Well, let me rephrase that. I am not a fan of long, gray, wet, cold winters. I usually don't mind November, December, and the first part of January, but that's about my limit for winter. Remember, I'm a California girl. I grew up where winter meant we wore jeans and a zip-front hooded sweatshirt instead of shorts and tank tops. I didn't even own a heavy coat until my first husband and I took a trip to the Sierras and I bought my very first down jacket. Despite the fact that I've lived here for 21 years, I have never grown fond of winter. About mid-January I find myself reminiscing about warm California winters, playing golf year-round, and going to the snow, not living in the snow. By the end of February, I'm a raving lunatic. Some winters the snow and gray skies linger until the end of April. Those are the winters I question my decision to live here - and my sanity. Fortunately, those winters are not the norm. Though we do get quite a bit of snow, and it stays on the ground from November through February, we usually have a number of sunny days with stunningly beautiful, crystal-clear, blue skies. Those are the days that make winter bearable. On days like that, as I drive eastward on my way home from work, I am blessed in that I am surrounded by the most amazing scenery.

Ahead of me are the rugged mountain ranges of eastern Idaho and western Montana, the deep blue sky setting off their snow-capped peaks perfectly. The roadside is heavily forested and lush, frosted with freshly fallen snow sparkling in the waning sunlight. If I drive just a little past my home, I will find myself traveling the shoreline of Lake Pend Oreille. I find it nearly impossible to describe this scene without using trite imagery like that found in cheesy novels. It is breathtaking. It is stunningly beautiful. It is beyond description. As I gaze upon the lake, the mountains in the background, and the bluest sky you've ever seen, I can't help but thank God for the opportunity to live here and to look upon this glorious sight daily. I keep these images stored away, and on those endless, awful, gray days I pull them out to help get me through until the next sunny day. This truly is a magnificent place in which to live. I just need to remind myself of that come February 15 in the middle of a blizzard.

And speaking of blizzards... yes, the signs are all here. Winter is just around the corner. It has rained now for 4 days straight - not just sprinkled, but rained - steadily, soggily, constantly. Enough is enough, already. It's mid-September. It's supposed to be warm - the calm before the storm, so to speak. We're supposed to have Indian summer, temps in the 80's, one last chance to get the boat out on the lake before storing it for winter, a chance to winterize the lawn, dig up the bulbs, plant new ones, get the yard ready for winter, not this incessant rain forcing us indoors to consider ark-building techniques. Stop the rain, please!

Fall is nice here, albeit brief. The trees do turn beautiful colors rivaling those of the eastern U.S. We have a lot of aspens here. They turn a magnificent golden color unlike almost any other tree. The forests are filled with tamarack, or western larch, a tree that looks like an evergreen in the summer but whose needles turn a pale gold in the late fall, and fall off in the winter. I remember when we first moved here, I had never heard of a tamarack. I saw all these trees in the winter I thought were dead - thousands of them. I wondered what blight had taken their lives. Imagine my surprise to see them sprouting bright green needles in the spring, as if magically reborn thanks to a transfusion of Miracle-Gro. It was then I learned about tamaracks. We also have our share of maples, birch, cottonwoods, alder, and other deciduous trees that add to the fall parade of color. The display is definitely jaw-dropping.

I like autumn. I become a photography maniac in the fall, attempting (usually quite unsuccessfully) to capture the drama of the color surrounding me. Why is it so difficult to get onto film (or in my case, smart media) what your eyes see all around you? Obviously, some photographers do that very well. Alas, I'm not one of them. I chalk it up to lack of proper equipment - like filters, lenses, tripods, etc. - certainly not lack of talent or ability. :) I keep trying, none the less. I love challenges.

Yep, winter is just around the corner. Here's to a long and glorious autumn before winter strikes. I'll keep you posted.