Rain

It is raining buckets in Omaha. A steady shower is watering the woods around me. It has been going all morning. Like many rainy-days in the Midwest, the torrent seems to to come and go in waves... but never stops all together. I love it when it slows a little, and you look out to see the plants shivering as drops make their way down dripped from the leaves overhead .

This is so different from the summer rains in Florida. Those rain storms of my childhood rolled across the land like a very predictable train making it's usual stop. The clouds would gather by two in the afternoon; they would threaten and swirl for a bit. The release would come by three o' clock, when thick heavy drops fell straight form the sky. It was such a common everyday thing that most of the time the sun wouldn't even bother to stop shining.

But here, rain can be an all day event. Sometimes even a string of days. I love the rain. I love the cool gray feel of the world. I love the anticipated and yet surprising feel of the rain drops as you dash from your car to the safety of indoors. I find humor in everyone's frizzy hair, and I love to see who has remembered their umbrella, and who just wings it. I don't own an umbrella, though I think I'd like a big floral one. One that cannot be compacted into my purse and has a curved wooden handle...

Anyway, so other than our usual trip to the gym (which we all LOVE LOVE LOVE) we have all been cozied-down reading books, painting, and of course playing with trains. Now the children are in their beds, I have a cup of coffee, and peace has descended on the house in a thick and cool rainy-day way.

I've been cooking, knitting, and cleaning. We have a someone very special coming here tomorrow and I want all to be ready. I've also been snapping pictures of all the many things that seem to be making me crazy-happy today. My photography is always so ragged. I don't have Photoshop and I was an idiot and didn't spend the extra money on the camera I should have. Arg. Lesson learned. But, my camera is fine... and most days It does what I need. The trouble is my dream-house is very lacking in the natural light department. We live in the woods. And the trees grow so thick around the house that no matter how many huge and wonderful windows we have, it is always a little dark here. My kitchen is on the North side of the house, which means that the lights are on in there all day long. Perhaps a tripod would help?

Well, here is what I am loving today:

Georgia's

Norman's

(I spluged at Wally-World the last time I was there and bought some real watercolor paper. What an amazing difference this makes! Before all their paintings had giant holes in them from over-saturation and massive toddler brush-friction, but this this wonderful paper is impervious to their lead strokes.)