Spring in Salem

Every year, I seem to miss the peak of the spring cherry blossoms on the Capitol Mall. Either the weather's not right, or about the time the trees are reaching optimum bloom, we get rain and the blossoms are decimated by a spring storm. But this year, I timed it right.

Last week, the weather was great on Monday. The skies were clear and blue and I ventured down to the Oregon Capitol, which is only about a mile or so from where I work, to get some pictures. I wish I had borrowed a camera from work, but got a few pictures I liked anyway.

By midweek, the weather turned gray and rainy and conditions have not been as good since.

Timing is everything, particularly with photography. You have to be in the right place at the right time. There's only one right time around here every year. I think I got the timing just about right.

We now return to our previously schedule clouds, rain and gray-skied gloom.

Too tired to sleep

I'm going through one of the periodic bouts of insomnia that visit me from time to time. I'm not sure what causes it. Maybe I need to keep an insomnia journal or something to see if I can find a pattern to the phenomenon.

After a fairly dry and sunny winter, the rains have returned this week. Maybe that's a factor. But I don't think that's it, or at least not all of it, because the really late nights started late last week before the weather really turned.

Unfortunately, I am not experiencing a period where I can exploit the long hours creatively. It would be nice to make some posts or read or do something with these hours.

Ironically, I'm very tired, but can't bring myself to go to bed. I can sleep for a few minute in the evening on the couch, but to get that long full night's sleep, particularly on a weeknight, well, it just doesn't happen.

I call it insomnia, but I'm not sure if it really is or not. I don't go to bed and toss and turn sleeplessly for hours. I just don't go to bed. I think part of it is the fear of lying in bed, tossing and turning for hours. I used to do that as a kid and earlier in my life. It was shear frustration and torture. I don't want to repeat it. So, instead, during these periods, I keep myself awake until overcome by exhaustion. I want to know the sleep will come when I crawl between the sheets.

I am going to try to sleep. I think. I hope.

Happy Groundhog Day

Here's to hoping that furry little varmint doesn't see his shadow and winter will soon be over.

But who am I kidding? This is the Willamette Valley and it's been unseasonably dry so far this year. There's still lots of rain left to fall and my amateur prognostication tells me that winter-like weather will last far more than 6 more weeks.

Monday minutia

I broke down this evening and turned on the heat out in the living room for the first time this evening. I've turned on the heat a few nights back in the bedroom this season, and I've been turning on the space heater in the morning to heat up the bathroom for a while now. But I've been holding out on heating the main room But I'm tired of having to wrap up in a blanket and wear a sweatshirt just to watch TV or work on the computer.

I'm not looking forward to higher electric bills, but I HATE being cold.

***

I drove up to Portland last night in the fog. I got spoiled living in Southern California. I don't ever remember having fog there. I realized when I was driving home from Portland in the fog that If I have to drive in the fog I'd rather do it at night than during the day. You can see the taillights further up ahead at night than you can in the day. But still, driving in the ground mist is exhausting.

My eyes ached by the time I got home. By the time I went to bed I had a splitting headache. I'm not sure if driving in the fog contributed or not, but I'll blame it anyway.

***

I'm not pleased by all the Christmas displays and Christmas commercials on TV already. That stuff shouldn't start until after Thanksgiving. I swear the weeks from Thanksgiving to Christmas used to be plenty of a holiday season. My favorite radio station has even started playing the occasional Christmas song and promoting their website where you can get commercial-free Christmas music 24/7. I'm tempted to boycott the station until after the holidays.

But I know the real reason I hate the hard sell is I don't have money for many, if any, Christmas gifts this year. I don't need to be reminded of that every second of the day for the next 6 weeks. I had to by tires and still need an oil change and new brakes for the truck and new eyeglasses.

Merry Frickin' Christmas.

***

I took the plunge recently. I filled out a profile on an online dating site. I haven't used the site to contact anyone yet and the profile still needs work. But it's a first step. Right? That's progress. Right?

A night reminiscing reminiscing about sunny days gone by

It's rather amazing to find that when I have a life, and life it, I don't have much time to post to the blog.

Last weekend, I had the distinct pleasure of taking my daughter out to lunch for her birthday. And while I did find time to write a post about that, I haven't spent much time in recreational writing since then.

On Friday, a couple of friends and former coworkers were coming through Portland and I met them for dinner and drinks. We spent far too few fun-filled hours sharing stories of the old days (roughly about 3-8 years ago) when we worked together. There were tales of people we encountered along the way.

Two members of our party are now living here in the Northwest, still enduring a winter than refuses to yield to spring, in spite of the longer days an blossoms on the trees, now being beaten off the branches by those mythical April showers. But the third member of our triumvirate still lives in sunny Southern California. I'm sure you can tell who is the sun worshipper by the photo.

It fascinates me how sometimes time can melt away when friends or family get together after an absence. Weeks, or months -- even years -- can disappear, almost as if no time at all has passed. But for our little trio, a surprising amount of time has passed. It's been about five years since we shared a good meal, good drink, good stories and good laughs.

My friends, Julie and Cindy, and I worked together at a newspaper in Palm Springs. Working in an environment of deadline pressure and high expectations forged some tight bonds, and forced some others to unravel.

I feel lucky to have made some good friends during the years I spend in California. But there is a sadness to it too, realizing that circumstances and distance have scattered us to all corners of the country. I don't see so many of the people that I grew to admire and respect, personally and professionally.

But for a few hours on Friday, time not only stood still, but the clock turned backwards to a time when the 21st century was just beginning and the sun shone every day. And the days the sun didn't shine were so unusual that it made news.

Snow? Say it ain't so

There's snow outside my window. Not a lot, but some. Snow in the Willamette Valley is not good. People here don't know how to handle slick roads. There has been snow in surrounding areas for the last couple of mornings, prompting a flurry (if you'll pardon the pun) of snow closures and traffic problems.

I knew there are those who love snow. It's so white and pretty. I've never been a big fan. Not that I have anything against the flakes themselves, but if there is snow sticking around that means it's at or below freezing, and I loath the cold.

To me, the best snow is that that dusts nearby mountains, making for a picturesque backdrop. That's what I loved about living in the Southern California deserts, near mountain ranges. It was usually warm (or at least mind) during the winter months, but snow was common at higher elevations on nearby mountains. It was beautiful, especially under warm, sunny skies.

The roads may be a mess in the morning. Fortunately, I don't have far to go. And I am fairly confident that the snow, if it sticks around overnight, will likely be done by midday. Perhaps only to be repeated again tomorrow.

I'm not a big fan of gray skies and rain in the winter here in Western Oregon, but the one benefit of just dreary conditions is that it is usually above freezing -- day and even at night -- here in the Willamette Valley.

How long is it until spring again?

The fog

I'm not real good at planning my errands. I always thing on my way home that I'll have plenty of time to run out later, after I've vegged out a bit, had a bite to eat and unwound from the day. I knew I needed to stop at a story on my way home from work but didn't. So, there I was at midnight, venturing out for my delayed errand. Fortunately, there is a Circle K nearby with precisely what I needed.

What I didn't expect to encounter upon walking out the door was fog.

Fog on a chilly night is not good. Fortunately, the temperature hasn't quite dipped below 32 degrees. Because freezing fog is nasty stuff. About the only worse driving condition is freezing rain, but freezing fog is not good.

It's looking like it's going to be a nasty morning on the roads here in Salem. There's nothing like skating to work, especially if it involves bend metal and bloodshed.

Well, the freezing conditions may have one upside if schools are closed and people go in late to work. Maybe there will be fewer morons on the road to play bumper cars with in the morning.