As I sit here in the quietness of my cozy home out in the country, in the middle of the day, hearing only the humming sound of this computer, the ticking of my plethora of clocks, the intermittent sound of cars frequently traveling down Mosby Creek and the muffled breathing of my dogs, as they lay in wait for the kids to come home...I am at peace at least for now.
I am engrossed with the seasons (particularly fall), since that is the time of year we are in and it brings on such vivid realizations of life. However, it sometimes catches me by complete surprise that it is in fact the middle of October and the leaves haven't yet decided that it is cold enough to call it quits for the year. The fact that I live in the Pacific Northwest and the majority of the trees here are coniferous, doesn't allow me to see gorgeous color-changing trees on the mountain side, that I once viewed just a year, or so ago, while living in Utah. The conifers here in my region of the nation, far outnumber the deciduous trees that are sporadically spread through the town in Draper. Because they are fewer in number, it somehow makes them stand out in their uniqueness, more so than I can remember. You see, this isn't a complaint, rather an observation that was once unnoticeable to my eye, but is now shockingly beautiful. I don't like change much, but as I lay in my room staring at the massive amounts of pine trees...I smiled. I smiled because I let my heart open to seeing something different. The same thing that was here last year, is just being seen in a different light. My soul was struck with joy. I have a hard time seeing beyond what I have always know, but today is different.
I then couldn't resist taking pictures of the "few" trees that are deciduous just for evidence as they are fewer and far between, along with the beautiful conifers that hold that deep green color year-round, without letting the weather change what they are.
The weather changes me. I so badly wish that it wouldn't, or couldn't, but it does. Sometimes in a negative way. Sometimes a positive one. The dreary clouds that hang overhead like a predator waiting to pounce on me, the victim, can and does get a little overwhelming when my vitamin D gets low and needs a boost. The colder temps that always send a chill through my bloodstream and allow my extremities to feel nearly frostbitten, doesn't set well with me either, as I truly am cold-blooded (in a good way).
The positives that I try so hard to take the time to view the beauty of, are the ones that only occur in the fall and winter... like the fog. The every-morning-every-day fog that is always so cozily and peacefully nestled against the ground and tucked into the crevices of the bottoms of the mountainside, near our home. I love the way it rests at the very bottom of the area and allows a few of the taller trees to peek through. It feels like a movie. It feels like a dream. A blurry one where the vividness is a bit smeared and clouded over, but nonetheless neat and very amazing.
I do have to admit that one of the things that I hated when I first moved to Oregon was the way that the moss hung from EVERY tree as if it was part of it. It clung to every branch and surrounded them and drooped like soggy, mushy, gooey stuff. In the winter it stayed wet, in the summer it is crusty-like and hangs in an attempt to over-take the tree itself. Every square inch is covered and hanging and growing. It was a disturbingly ugly sight at first, but then it changed-----or maybe I did. It is now very neat.
So, in all, I have taken the Oregon weather that I once despised and have turned it into a positive thing for me (at least in my head and only on THE RIGHT OCCASIONS). I love what I see and I love that it is unique in it's very own manner.
