“How time flies…..”

My computer died, time zoomed by and I meandered back here to find it has been well over a year since I last visited this page. How can that be? What happened that took so much involvement, energy, effort or whatever that it prevented me from realizing it all moved forward somehow to NOW?

Anyway…tomorrow is April 1, 2014. A few days ago I was reminded in social media that it has been 35 years since Supertramp released “Breakfast in America.” 35 years! Talk about a jolt to my memorytimeland! I was 19, in college. Long ago and far away…..

Most of The Winter of the Polar Vortex is hopefully ending. Sure, the “official” first day of Spring has come and gone, but we still have some snow yet to melt and another early-Spring Winter storm is upon us tonight.

This picture was taken as the last full moon rose in the darkening night sky of Central Minnesota, a few weeks ago.

Central Minnesota Winter

The Winter Solstice is a few days away and we’ve already had a big snow last weekend with more today.  It’s as beautiful as it is cold here and I love it in spite of the woes of having to shovel the sidewalks and get the driveway plowed.  Growing up in Louisiana, it was always still hot this time of year and we often had to have the air conditioner on as we cooked Christmas dinner.  No chance of that this year!

Even though I am not reveling in the Christmas spirit this year (missing my loved ones who have passed and dear friends many miles away), I am thankful for my new life here in Minnesota and looking forward to a new year, hoping for more positive changes and adventures as life goes on.

Hurricane Isaac

I was living in Miami in 1992 when Hurricane Andrew wiped out a huge amount of South Florida.  Years later, I was living in Lake Charles when Hurricane Rita hit there in 2005.  Before, in between and after those years, I had evacuated when lesser hurricanes hit the coastlines.  In January of this year, I moved to central Minnesota and have been more than relieved to be away from the threat of hurricane worries and devastation.

As Issac continues to dump flooding rains on the Gulf Coast states and I see flooded homes and destroyed property in the news down there, my heart goes out to the people living with that reality as I’m safe and sound in my Minnesota house on the hill.

Goodbye to Summer!

It seems like Summer has suddenly started to leave us finally!  The green leaves are now turning yellow and there’s a coolness to the early morning air.  When I went outside today, I noticed leaves on the ground and looked up into the trees and had to pull out my phone to snap a quick picture of the first Autumn leaves of the year.  It’s been a long, hot, dry summer here in central Minnesota (and everywhere else in most of the other states, unfortunately.)  I wonder what the change of seasons will bring……

The beginning of a great adventure…..

This is a new venture for me as a Louisiana transplant settling into a new life in rural Minnesota.  My 13-year-old daughter and I moved here in January; we sold our house in Cajun country, found a new home here (an updated 1895 farm house on a hill near the Mississippi River in an inviting community of a small town) and we love it here.  The people are warm and welcoming and I love the rolling hills, woods, glacier-remnant rocks, wildlife and the slower-paced lifestyle we’ve found here.  The abundance of trees, family farms, lakes, cooler climate and clean air all contribute to our happy changes.

I don’t know what this blog will bring as it’s my first attempt at an experiment such as this, but I greatly enjoy reading and learning from others and my own personal history has proven to me that self-expression is a good way to improve personal growth and explore curiosities to share life with like-minded people who cross our paths.