The first couple of years in the NW winter didn't bother me one bit. It was kind of nice to hunker down and bundle up in warm cozy blankets, near a fireplace, sipping hot chocolate, watching the trees sway back and forth in the wind and/or rain. However all that soon changes around year 4; come Jan/Feb I need some actually sun and warm. It isn't the rain that gets into your head and bleeds the energy out of me, it the darkness it is dark or dusk like until 8am and then you start loosing the sun again at about 3. with the angle of where WA is relative to the sun, the sun never gets overhead like a noonday sun. the sun rays are ALWAYS at an angle and with 300 foot evergreen trees all around us you can just imagine how much sun actually makes it into my window to me. NOT MUCH! so we have a made it a necessity to get out of dodge to break up the cabin fever. This year we went to Phoenix. no money to do anything as far as activities or adventures, but that is okay Jamie had to go for work so the hotel was paid for as well as meals. We hung out at the pool in the sun for hours. I got a nice rosy sunburn, somethings never change. but it feels so good to be warm, and to even feel the burn a little. Savanah says she is moving back as soon as she can, she is a little sun worshipper. Garrett has turned vampire. NW native. He professed to hate the sun and was too hot the entire time. I LOVE Arizona. it is a second home to me. I pray I get to live there again someday when the kids are grown or at least have the means to visit as often as i like.
I had a hard time finding the beauty in the desert for the first 4 years we lived there. But there came a time when i really felt like God spoke to me and showed me how much he loved the desert beauty and wanted to share it with me and for me to see it as He does. Another reason it hold dear to my heart is the one of the most traumatic events in my life happened here, my diagnosis with MS. It is here my friends, not my family, reached out to pick me up spiritually and physically. They took care of physical needs and also reached out to our children (3, 5, 8 at the time) having them over to play, taking them on field trips, picking them up for school. we also had a neighborhood luncheon once a month. Not specifically for me or bc of me, but it was one thing I truly looked forward to. chatting and connecting with other adults, it helped with the depression that was so overwhelmingly dominating my life with new diagnosis. It truly felt like a Zion community.
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| Teddy Bear cactus - because from a bit of a distance it look soft to the touch. |
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| the skyline from our resort.... Beautiful! |
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| the resort had a hiking trail, we took advantage |
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| wish i knew what this plant was called. I would say it it some kind of grass but has cactus barbs all the way up the reed. grow in 4 feet bush shapes. |
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Unmatched beauty of a Sahuaro Cactus Tree. yep they are considered a tree the 'trunk' is inside the fleshy outside.
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| it takes 50-75 year to grow a first side arm. the cactus will visibly swell in an effort to retain water. |
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| Bird will hollow out a hole in the sahuaro to make a nest. |
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| desert beauty. some sort of agave cactus |
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| me, poolside |
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| our pool for the long weekend |
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| i just love these trees! they don't grow anywhere else in the WORLD! |
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| Barrel Cactus. once i tried to kick the one in our yard in Tuscon over. ya, I just nailed my shoe to the cactus and about fell over. |
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| my legs getting sunburned. oops. |
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| Garrett's trying to be warm and shaded. |
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| Savanah taking advantage of the sun and a good time! that's my girl! |
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