Fog and Snow

It's been a rather wet winter so far, and it's not all snow.  Actually, I bet most of the moisture we have gotten over the last few months, has been in just about any other form.  We have had sleet, rain, freezing rain, and for some bizarre reason, a ton of fog.  I almost felt as if I was living in the middle of London for a while.  And it's not fog that shows up and burns away within a few hours.  I'm talking about fog that sticks around for days at a time. And I'm not saying we haven't had snow, because we have.  It's actually snowed at least four times already, which seems to be way more than last year. And for the record, I love all this moisture.  I woke up to rain the other morning and I loved it.

I thought I would share a few pictures of what the fog was like, and some of the snow we've had so far.

It's All Wet, On Wordsmithonia Radio

Earlier this week, it rained a lot.  Well maybe not a lot, but one entire day was taken up by rain.  Parts of our state have been in drought conditions for a few years now, so any time it rains, it's more than welcome.  Add in the fact, that I love overcast rainy day, and rain has been on my mind for a while now.

How can you not love a rainy day?  Okay, maybe you may not enjoy as much if you are having to work, but when you get to have the day off, and it's raining outside, it's almost like Heaven.  I love to stay home with all my curtains open, watching the rain come down.  I'll cuddle up on the couch, or in bed, and watch movies, read some great books, drink some tea, and just have a perfectly lazy day.  I love the way it looks cascading down my windows, the way it smells if I'm lucky enough to be able to leave my patio door open, and the way it sounds as it taps on the roof.  It's something that appeals to all my senses, whether is a gentle sprinkle, or a raging thunderstorm.  Rainy days make me happy.

So I thought I would share a few rain inspired songs with you. The songs can be literal or figurative, when its comes to their use of the imagery.  But they are all songs that I enjoy listening to, and can help take me back to a perfect rainy day, even if it's 105 degree outside with not a cloud in the sky.

One quick note, "Purple Rain" by Prince and "Thunder Rolls" by Garth Brooks would be on here, but apparently they don't allow their music on Youtube.

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow!

Late in the month of February , Michael Buble, Dean Martin, and Frank Sinatra all go their wish, it snowed and snowed and snowed.  I've lived in Kansas since 1994, and I have never seen snow like this here before.  It almost reminded me of my hometown, Two Harbors, MN, which sits on the north shore of Lake Superior.  Here in Wichita, KS, over the period of 6 days, we had 21.2 inches of snowfall.  The snowfall broke a record of total monthly snowfall that was set in 1913.  

Now I personally love snow, so it was nice to see.  I just wish it would have been in December, right around Christmas.  I think we have only had 2-3 White Christmases since I've lived here.  I didn't get out in the snow too much because with the blowing snow, it was a little hard to see, but on a few occasions I did get out and take a few pictures.  So I thought I would share a couple of them.

The first three photos are around 6:00 am, on the morning of the 21st.  This was the beginning of the first storm we had.

That's my car being hidden by the tree.

I included the icicles because I wanted to show you how big they got later on.

Taken of the "yard" that can be seen from the balcony.

The next ten pictures were taken on the same day, during one of the lulls in the snowfall.  I was getting cabin fever and I wanted to walk along the Arkansas River, which is literally a block from where I live.  The walk didn't last very long, I forgot how much of a workout you get when you are walking in almost a foot of snow.

The icicles are starting to get bigger.

First of nine pictures taken along the Arkansas River.

This is by far, my favorite picture that I took.  I love the way the reddish brown colors come through on  the bare branches.

I fell down the steps of a marina, almost into the river, which is how I found the perfect shelter for David the Gnome.

I was wanting to get more picture of the icicles the next morning, because they got really frickin big.  I forgot to do it, so I had to take this picture later on in the day.  They had already started to melt a bit, so imagine this massive sheet of ice, but a lot bigger.  That's not counting the icicles the way they hung down the other side, well past the floor of the balcony.  Some of them even continued inside, but I didn't want to take a picture of my balcony floor.

The night of Monday, the 25th, we were waiting for the second storm to come, and I get impatient at times.  Especially when I'm waiting for snow.  At one point, while I'm looking out the window, I see a rather odd shaped lump sitting on the railing.  I wasn't sure what it was, so I turned on the light, and saw this little guy sitting and staring at me.  I rushed to get the camera and managed to snap off one picture.  Sadly the window is a little dirty, on the outside, and my flash acted wonky, so I wasn't able to get a really good picture.

And I will leave you with a few pictures I took in Maple Grove Cemetery Wednesday, the 27th.  It's my favorite cemetery in town, don't judge, because it's quiet and I'm able to just sit in the car and read.  There is also a gazebo that is a quiet place to relax.  It's always amazing to me how quiet cemeteries can be, even in the middle of the city.  This one is really close to a hospital and is surrounded by major traffic areas, but you hear none of it once you are inside.  I didn't take many pictures of the monuments themselves, because most of the snow had melted off them and it would have been just pictures of grave stones.  

One of my favorite areas of the cemetery is behind a tree line and creek that run along the back section.  It's the only area that is graveled instead of paved, and there is not much back there, except for two smaller mausoleums.  I took quite a few pictures, but didn't like most of them.  One is of the smaller mausoleum, the others are of the creek area.