Hey, all. I’ve been absent here, but I’m still alive. I guess I ran out of things to say. 🤔 These images are from one of my “up north” cousins and used with his permission. Next week I’ll try to post ice sculpture pictures I took a couple of weeks ago. By the way, if the fountain is familiar, it’s because I posted a similar picture of it last winter.
I hope you’re all having fun. Apologies for neglecting your blogs, too. Stay safe. Thanks for visiting.
*Waving* Hello Bloggers, Followers, and Friends! Forgive me if I’m intruding into your family time. I’m stepping into your inbox for a moment to wish you a Merry Christmas, Happy Holiday, or whichever way you say, and celebrate, Christmas. To those of you who don’t celebrate, I am sending you wishes for a joyful season. Thanks to all of you for being here.
Enjoy the day with your family and friends. Hopefully, I’ll see you next Friday with the last 52-Week Blog Challenge post of 2017.
I woke to this… It’s beautiful, but now it can go away. The images look a little blah taken with my cell phone. The morning was gloomy and gray, but the sun is out now. Still…brrrr…
Christmas Morning 2017
The reason for the season.
I’ve turned off sharing for this post.
Welcome to the first day of Fall. Today autumn officially arrives at 4:02 p.m. EDT in the Northern Hemisphere. From The Farmer’s Almanac:
The word equinox comes from the Latin aequus (equal) and nox (night).
Week 38. The best parts of each season.
#MFRWauthor
I wrote a post for last week, but I didn’t get it posted on time. Last week the topic was Five Ways To Win My Heart. I hope you don’t mind me jotting the five ways to win my heart at the bottom of this post. Skip reading the delayed snippet if you choose. I won’t know. 🙂
Now on to this week’s topic: The best parts of…
Rebirth. Butterflies. No snow. Everything outside is fresh and new. The grass is turning a pretty Kelly green. Hyacinths and crocuses bloom. Buds appear on trees. The air smells so fresh after a spring rain.
Longer days. Vacation. The Beach. Blue skies and fluffy clouds. Roses. Fresh vegetables and fruit. Fireworks. No snow. Camping. People camp in anything from tents to 5th wheels or motor homes. My family has camped in ground tents, pop-up tents, a pickup camper (Remember those?), and a 5th wheel. Sitting around a campfire at night is romantic and fun for those who enjoy it.
Summer vacation doesn’t mean to me what it used to when I worked, but I love this season. Then, summer couldn’t come soon enough. School dragged until the last day. At my last job in middle school, all the teachers stood outside at the bus stop and waved good-bye to the students. The students got a big kick out of it. Lordy, were we happy! So were the kids.
Beauty. Cider Mills. Candy and caramel apples. Cooler temps. Longer walks. Less lawn cutting. Photography. The crunch of leaves. A coating of leaves as they pile up everywhere. Who doesn’t enjoy a drive during the autumn when trees put on their stunning autumn coats only to lose them too quickly? This is my favorite time of year.
Holidays—Thanksgiving. Christmas, New Year’s Eve. Decorations. Christmas lights. 
Turkey. Cozy fire. Snowmen. Snuggling into a warm bed. The first snowfall. After the first snowfall, it can melt and not come back until Christmas Eve. Then it can melt again. Do you like sitting in front of a fireplace? I can’t imagine what the holidays will be like this year with both my kids living far away. My son is moving today. 😦
Remember, folks, this is a Marketing for Romance Writers dot org BLOG HOP. Please check out the other participants HERE.
Thanks for reading! Enjoy autumn.
Here’s where I’m sneaking in a quick rundown of Five Ways to Win my Heart from last week’s topic.
1. Show respect and accept me for who I am. I’ll do the same for you.
2. Make me laugh.
3. Flirting with other women when I’m with you, especially with a woman who is with another man, won’t earn you brownie points.
4. How you introduce me to your friends and acquaintances says a lot. Do you introduce me as a friend, when we both know I’m so much more? Are you ashamed to admit I’m your girlfriend, fiancée, wife? Freaking introduce me properly, please. At least use my name if you can’t think of anything else.
5. Remember my birthday and our anniversary. Flowers, candy, or gifts aren’t necessary. Yes, they are nice to receive. BUT, if you took the time to pick out a card and tell me happy birthday / anniversary, you’ve won my heart, sweetie.
Photo credits: Coat/cowboy hat © Aldegonde Le Compte | Dreamstime.com. Christmas Boots © Olivier Le Queinec | Dreamstime.com. Butterfly Pixabay.
I’m bringing back an old topic I wrote about in previous posts. SNOW. I could Reblog a Thursday 13 post, but I won’t because that year was a record breaking year for snow totals and cold temperatures, so I may never see snow like that again in my lifetime. This year has been mild, well, up until the beginning of 2016.
This quote comes from another post I wrote about winter.
I don’t trust March. It’s like an unruly kid who does whatever he/she wants, whenever.
Of course, I’m writing this in March and the quote is still true this year. Yesterday, it snowed again, which is the second snow in less than a week. Saturday will bring more snow. The picture above is the first snow of 2015, but it was early in the day. It had turned out to be about nine inches by nightfall.
This time of year there are a lot of complaints about the snow and cold. Let’s rephrase that last sentence. I complain a lot and only speak for myself. The bad part about snow this time of year is ice. Temps warm and then they drop. The thaw freezes. Snow gets heavy to shovel. Traffic accidents happen. People fall. Wipers get frozen to the windshield. Fisherman (and kids, ladies & animals) can fall through the ice on lakes.
My car is in here somewhere.
A young guy bagging my groceries the other day warned me a snowstorm was on the way. I told him I didn’t want to think about another one. The cashier chewed us both out for complaining, saying if we didn’t like it we could move because it’s like this every year. It’s nothing new. In a kind voice, I told him, “Not everyone can just pick up and move.”
On the positive side, snow is pretty to look at when it’s coming down. It can come down in large, slow-falling flakes, or so hard and fast that it becomes a whiteout, and you can’t see for a few yards in front of you. If it’s windy, it’ll blow sideways and sting your face.
When fresh snow isn’t walked or driven on, it’s beautiful. I call it virgin snow. Depending on where you are, walking in falling snow can be quiet and ethereal. It’s also nice to see trees with snow on the branches or pine boughs.
I’m not a skier nor do I ride snowmobiles. I’d ride a snowmobile if I had one. You probably can’t live here and not drive on a lake at least once in your life, although no matter how thick the ice is, it terrifies me to be on the ice in a vehicle!
The icicles remind me of Christmas icicle lights.
When I was young, I used to ice skate, but didn’t mind the cold and snow then. It’s been about fifteen years since I wore skates, and a lot of the time I was on my butt. Maybe it’s the old bones now that can’t take the cold. 🙂 When I was a kid, I’d go ice fishing with my dad “up north” at my grandma’s house on a lake. I swear it snows daily up there.
Then there is sledding. One word describes sledding = FUN! When you live in the Great Lake Basin area, you really should do these winter activities. My fur baby has old bones now, too, but she doesn’t seem to mind the snow. ❤ Bull riding is my favorite spectator sport and hockey comes next. Hockey. Winter. Uh huh, it goes hand in hand around here. Go Wings.
Mush little doggie!
Even in winter, it’s kind of a privilege to live around so many large lakes. Did I say large lakes? How about Great Lakes? Looking across one of the Great Lakes is like looking out over an ocean. There is no other side in view and the horizon goes on forever. Well, heck, in this picture the background goes on and on over Lake Michigan. Off topic, but I love these lakes and have done many lighthouse tours around my state.
Sunrise over Lake Michigan from Chicago.
My state has more lighthouses than yours, but that’s another post.
I heard cardinals singing recently when the snow melted for a couple days, but I haven’t seen a robin yet. Spring is around the corner, so to speak. I can’t wait, but before long I’ll be telling you how hot it is. 🙂
Stay warm or stay cool depending on where you live. Have a relaxing upcoming weekend.
This video can show you a lot more winter excitement than I can at the moment.
I’ve been away from Thursday 13 for a long, long time. I think about it when I see other postings for it on Twitter.
Why I’m Sick of Winter Yes, (12) 13!
So you know—I could probably come up with a positive for most of these negatives. I like to live more in the positive than negative anyway.
You can find some of my old 13’s by typing Thursday Thirteen in the search box at the top right.
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Does this look like a jellyfish to you?
The red, white, and blue is in there somewhere.
I know she’s saying, “What the heck?”
This pump has seen more than one hundred winters with my family.
Hmm. This is my car after the big one.
Want some snow?
This cannot be good. The roof is making popping sounds.
I haven’t left my house since Saturday so this is all I have.
Spring arrived on March 20th. March 21st we had 14 inches of snow. Everything was green again for a few short days. The roads were full of pot holes, thanks to the salt we all want in the winter. But, the sky was turning a pretty cornflower blue, telling us spring was here. Yes, we saw this for a day. Then… the news said there was a threat of 6 – 10 inches of new snow. Sure, I knew March was unpredictable, I even said it to a few of my friends…don’t trust March. I looked out my classroom window Friday morning and thought I saw fog, but it wasn’t fog! It was snow.
By 2:45, it was nearly eight inches. And that was just the top of my car. It even had a shelf of snow from the drift, leaning out over the side of my car. After cleaning that off, I had the fun of driving home. My usual 55 mph drive was down to 35 and maybe an occasional 40 mph. As I got closer to home, it was more like 30 miles per hour. Oh, what joy that wasn’t because by then it was fully drifting over the roads, and deep.
Finally, nearly home, at least I was hoping it was my home since we were then having a whiteout, it was hard to tell for sure. But, I learned it was my street, but now, where was the driveway? I wondered. I finally found that too. Anyway, I made it home safely, but I think it was the worst drive I had all winter.
All this happened the second day of spring. It’s still pretty outside, though, with the boughs of the pine trees covered with thick bunches of white clumps. The driveway is mud today, the street is cleared after 5 trips with the snow plow, and it even looks like some melted off my truck in the driveway. At least it’s down from 14 inches to about 8 on the roof and hood. I guess the moral of this all is that it’s spring in Michigan! And don’t trust March.
Mary J. McCoy-Dressel ~ Contemporary Romance 
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