This morning I spent a little outside time with Brody and Whiskey, since it was so pleasant. The sun actually has a little heat coming off it now, which I feel like has not happened in some time. Later, Brody and I took a nice long walk around part of the lake. I took him down to the shore near a shallow part and true to form, he dived right in. There was a thin layer of ice on the water and after crunching through a couple of steps he quickly back-pedaled and looked back at me with an expression of "what on earth is this?"
Brody approves of sunshine
Whiskey's favorite thing to do outside is roll in the dirt.
What's that they say about cats being clean?
One of the most fascinating things I'm learning about Estes is how easy it is to track the path of the sun as it returns from its winter position in the south. Mostly this is because we have--literally--more sky here than anywhere else that I have ever lived. The corners of the sky aren't filled with other buildings and houses and the "neighborhood". Maybe this is because we are so high above the rest of the city, but also it's because Estes itself is inside a big bowl and all the mountains surround us. So, as a result, we see a lot more of the sky. When we arrived here in November, the sun was so low in the south that it would beam directly into our south-facing windows at around 3:00 in the afternoon and it was just unbearable. Then the sun would disappear behind the nearest foothill in between us and Longs Peak and it was gone by 4:30. Through January we watched every day as the sun slowly climbed higher and higher over that foothill, and now it hovers way over that foothill in the afternoons. Now that it's cleared that foothill, too, we see the sun for a lot longer as it descends over the Divide in the west. Because it's come around the other side of that hill, now it shines into our kitchen around 5:00, too. It's been a fascinating discovery and it's something that I've never been able to see before. In the city it's hard to track the path of the sun on a day to day basis because there are so many things blocking the majority of the sky. Here, the only landmarks are mountains and foothills and the sky is wide open to us. For me, it's a sure sign that spring is on its way back. Personally, I can't wait. I'm so ready for things to start budding and turning green again. I do like the seasons in their own turn, but winter and summer tend to linger on too long for me, and I get very excited to see the seasons turn and watch the earth go through its changes. In little over a week I'll be able to replace my winter wreaths with my spring wreaths and plant my new herb garden. I think I'll have to wait to do my flowers, but I'm very excited to have a real "garden" this year since this is the first time that I have a real yard to work with.
Well, the birds are chirping and the sun is shining, so I better get out and enjoy it before I have to go to work!
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