winter in Indiana

Oh how I miss actual winter...

There is nothing in the world more beautiful than the forest
clothed to its very hollows in snow. 
It is the still ecstasy of nature, wherein every spray,
every blade of grass, every spire of reed, every intricacy of twig,
is clad with radiance. 

William Sharp

It's coming...

I made these postcards upon our return from the Chiricahuas. It felt so much like fall, I couldn't refuse :) Though the highs around 110 degrees this week made me think I may have jinxed us all!

End of summer: the grand ol' outdoors

We had an okay monsoon (not as much rain as some seasons), but just seeing the huge, looming clouds this summer was a daily delight.  And I found these tiiiinnnnnyyyy mushrooms on Mt. Lemmon last week, which my brother said not to eat because they're poisonous.
I love that he knows these things :)

Picture 3 is a little patch of clovers that I found when hiking...so cute!  Go ND! 

Picture 4 is the trail I was on - gorgeous, no?

End of Summer: o the music

I've been discovering tons of great music from a website called NoiseTrade.  They have artists put up specific albums, and then let you download said albums for free - YES FREE.

Artists like The Civil Wars, Alexi Murdoch, and Page CXVI (who I mentioned earlier on the blog) are just a few of the artists that I've been able to dwell in this summer because of this website.  

Thanks NoiseTrade!

But just for a memorial to music of this past summer, here were some favorites (that may or may not have come out in the summer):

The Decemberists, Don't Carry it All

[Though this NPR video makes it seem very acoustic, the album is actually much more rock-eque - very nice]

Juanes, Tr3s Presents Juanes MTV Unplugged

[this is EPIC]

Judah & the Lion, First Fruits

[A band I found when a friend and I were hunting for worship music that doesn't musically suck. Their song "Life Up My Soul" is actually my favorite, but it's not on YouTube, so you guys get this taste!]

End of summer: Evie and friends

One of the best things of the summer was getting to spend time hanging with dear friends who I see less when I'm working - like this girl!  My "niece" (we're not actually related) is getting to babbling stage, and it was a delight to soak in it this summer with her parents.  

Love you guys!

Her mom and I let her try some of the foam from my latte - just from this face you can tell she thought we were crazy for liking it :)

Goodbye Summer

Summer is almost over! :(  So I'm going to be posting a few things that I loved doing this summer, things that particularly made the summer of 2012 a blast.  Starting with this pic!  I took it last night at the park where I ran into 3 of my students, and only 1 pretended like they didn't know me :)  Gorgeous clouds and sunsets - definitely a plus for Summer de'12!

Walking in the river

I took Darcy back to the wash when it was not quite so raging. We had a blast playing in the water!

This frog was about the size of your pinky fingernail. 

 I sat along the sand bank, read, and pretended like I was at Lake Michigan.

 

Happy Monsoon Season!

This is the Santa Cruz River. Yes, RIVER. 

The same one my dog and I normally run in the dry sand in...how thrilling, huh?! We've had tons of rain here in Tucson, and I'm loving it!  Hopefully it keeps it up tomorrow for church (which is cooled by swamp coolers...booo humidity!) 

Off to Seattle!

(insert squealing and much dancing here)  

It's been quite some time since I've gone anywhere, and my inner Hoosier is turning to jerky in the summer heat. SOOO I am headed to visit one of my old college roommates and her husband, two of my very dear friends, so fyi...scattered postings are imminent. 

 However, expect some lovely greeny, watery, Seattley shots via Hipstamatic :) 

 Like this one! (taken with Hipstamatic I mean) which I leave with you as a parting greeting from the teacher:

anticipation

Summer is coming.  

It is swelling up in the distance like the monsoon rains.

And I am SO excited to see it looming in the distance. 

The high today was around 100, which is going to start being a regular thing again, so I got Darcy a new pool.  Last summer I got her a kiddie pool, which she loved!  and then she chewed to bits once it got colder and she no longer needed it.  So I tried to circumvent such inefficiency and got her one of the black, plastic feed trough/water tanks that are used for livestock...which she almost is (?).  

Like this!

Only my backyard is a barren wasteland of dirt, with a few specks of weeds and wood (what's left of her once-doghouse).  The above photo is CLEARLY not Tucson...though I wish I could import the trees and puppies for a few days :)  But it's a good relative size to my dog.

And as of yet, she's not quite so sure of the thing yet.  She loved her pool, but she seemed rather scared to go into this - because it's bigger? black? smelled like horses? or something else? hmmm...

Anyways, all this to say playing with the dog in her new pool with the wind and the lovely evening lighting made me all the more excited for summer.  

6 DAYS.  School is OVER in 6 DAYS.  I love my students DEARLY.  I will miss seeing them 5 days a week.  But teachers NEED extended time off...and I can hardly wait for it to arrive, yet have hardly thought about it all at the same time.

Any suggestions for the summer?  What are you going to do?  Any Southern AZ ideas? 

Because I'm missing the Midwest...

...for some reason...the trees, the lightening bugs, the water, the smell of summer...maybe that's why. Because summer is SO CLOSE.  SO CLOSE!  So here's a few odes to my hometown...

Taken in my front yard

 Yes, this picture was taken on one of the TWO main streets in my hometown

Spring in the desert

Emily and I went to the Tucson Botanical Gardens for an afternoon stroll on Saturday. It was so lovely out! We sat in their "Mexican" garden and smelled the last remaining blooms of an orange tree...so delightful. Also over spring break I went hiking- here are some shots of the plants. I love spring in Tucson (except for the allergies)

Let it begin!

Spring seems to be coming early to The Old Pueblo - anyone else agree? We have an apricot tree at school and it's been blooming this week...beautiful no?  And all around town other fruit trees are starting to bloom as well. It's a lovely time of year in Tucson! (if it weren't for all those allergies!)

Snow!

I was afraid there wasn't going to be any snow during my time in Indiana, but woke up yesterday morning to this...AWESOME!

winter is coming

A lovely day...

welcome autumn

my dear old friend...i have missed you...

i have longed for your cooler breezes and crisper air to wrap me up, like finding an old beloved sweatshirt that you haven't seen in years.  To take walks, and not just before the Sun comes up or sets because it's too dang hot out...but to just SOAK in the glory of God making our Earth just slightly tilted, and how that gives us an ever-changing beauty that is autumn...to eat apples, to hike, and to relish in the loveliness of life (and all things orange).

Tucson, will you let fall come?  Will you please not be 100 degrees anymore...my soul and my electric bill cannot take it much longer (yes I had to turn the air back on)

but everyone, if you looking for fall/autumn-ness, Savaya served up an awesome pumpkin latte the other day.  And I made pumpkin whoopie pies with cinnamon frosting for our church's open house. If you're in town, stop on by!  1926 N. Cloverland.

hope your loving even the title change of seasons as much as I am, even if the weather hasn't exactly followed suit this week...

Good-bye Summer!

I am glad that you're over.

oh the beauty of a day overcast

the storms, the rain (and hail here on the south side), and the clouds have taken Tucson's overbearing triple-digit temperatures down into the 80's and 90's during the day.

how wonderful it has been...

and with that I REJOICE!  And have turned off the air conditioning!  It has been absolutely lovely to sit in a quiet house (even though most of the time I'm home I'm sleeping because I'm never here)...to feel the breeze coming through the windows, and to know that the electric bill will be significantly lower  :)

I'm typing this by candlelight, and while I don't want to return to the pre-electricity days, the lack of the running air conditioner and an open window bring a part of my soul and self to life that I always miss until fall returns.  I have always loved this time of year...and the candlelight makes me long for simplicity.  I know my life will never be simple, though I'm convicted to remember it's a choice...and to choose better tomorrow.