Gray Skies are Gonna Clear Up...

   Put on a happy face! The scattered showers throughout the weekend gave way to bright blue skies. Little to be unhappy about this year, with the mild temperatures, blue skies, and gorgeous blooms. Here are a few photos from my back yard:

Strange Clouds

   Not sure what type of clouds these are, but they proceeded the storms this week, and I love how dramatic they look, like a vortex around the setting sun! I saw these in LA when I visited Kelley last July, too. Fascinating!

Photos from Breck & Vail

   This "remix" was made by EpicMix from my professional photos taken on-mountain yesterday & today. Yesterday at Breck was a mixed bag of TONS of fresh powder (12"+ overnight), snowing all day, some sun, high winds, and blowing snow to near whiteout conditions at the end of the day. Quite an experience. Today in Vail was the PERFECT bluebird day, with tons of fresh, groomed powder, bright sun & super-blue skies all day long.

You're spoiling me, Colorado. But oh, how I like it!

(Almost) Unspoiled Beauty

   After a lovely evening hike on Shawnee Mission Park lake's north shores, I returned to my car to see this spectacular view of the sunset. I loaded up the dogs and drove over to the overlook, to catch the last of the sunset from above the trees.

    The "view" at my feet on the overlook was less spectacular. Ah, teenagers. (Actually, this totally cracked me up.)

Just... WOW.

 

Metaphorically Speaking...

   I snapped this photo as I drove home, just as Florence & The Machine's "Shake It Out" ("It's always darkest before the dawn") started. I wasn't familiar with the song, but found it haunting—and inspiring—and turned up the volume.
   There was a dark, heavy storm cloud directly above me, practically pressing down on me with an incredible weight, and extending far in front of me, with just the tiniest sliver of daylight on the horizon. But I could see that the light was beautiful, and burned so brightly...
   A cloud of large, dark birds emerged from the trees next to the highway, swirled above me in a chaotic mass, then broke and flew together toward the brighter sky, just as the song hit its crescendo. It all felt like a perfect metaphor for my life at this moment... I need to keep focused on the road ahead and get my head out from under this cloud.
   True story. Seriously, I couldn't make this stuff up. I just observe.

Random Hallmark Moments: Cloudy with a Chance of Hilarity

   There have been some awesome stormy clouds rolling through this week, though they produced very little rain. I took these on my way to work, and again wished I had brought my good camera! I'd put it in my pocket and take it everywhere, where it not GINORMOUS. (That 20x zoom has its downside. Time for a new mini point-and-shoot?)

   Today's work day was full of surprises; none of them bad per se, but some things definitely caught me off guard. (If I stopped to think about it, I could probably say that every day. Which actually is part of what I like about my job.) Fortunately our Creative holiday party at Marianne's house was this evening (avoiding the actual, overly-busy holiday season). So some good wine, good food, and good friends were awaiting me.
   I had a blast talking to everyone, and capped off the evening talking to Sara, Kit, Andrea & Julie—who collectively got me laughing so hard that I did a literal spit take—I had to turn and spit my mouthful of water into Marianne's mums to keep from choking on it. I believe we were talking about questionable gifts, such as a putter, a vacuum, and a food dehydrator. And doesn't that just sound like the intro to a perfectly hilarious joke? Sara said, "What, did he think you were going to live off the land?!" and I was done.

Have a fun & funny weekend, dear readers.

Gorgeous weekend

   My favorite kinds of weekends are those when the weather is beautiful: sunny, warm and breezy; before the bugs are out, so I can open up all the windows in the house and the back door, giving the cats access to countless sunny spots and allowing the dogs to go outside at will. This weekend they've scarcely been inside, returning only to cool off for a moment and grab a drink of water. They like to lie in the grass under the trees and just observe and enjoy. (Makes me think I should make more time for the same!) I've had a lot to do, however, both in the house and yard, and running errands.

Aki keeps an eye on the front door and enjoys the breeze

   This morning I ran Scooter to the vet to have her knee checked, and to meet Jana, another MSIR volunteer who was transporting Akira. On the way home from the vet, I snapped that photo of the clouds. Wish I'd had my real camera instead of the Blackberry, but I think it's spectacular nonetheless. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the weather holds up for next weekend's Backpackin' 2: Electric Boogaloo!

   Although I had plenty to do, I couldn't resist taking the pups to Antioch Park for a run, especially after I learned of Nike's new challenge, in which they're donating $200,000 to help Japan recover from the earthquake and tsunami. We clocked another 4 miles racing all over the park, enjoying the blooming magnolias, redbuds, Bradford pear, and cherry trees. (How's that for Japanesey?) Hallmark is matching employee donations dollar-for-dollar, which makes me very proud to work for such a caring company.

Random Hallmark moments: God sky

   This afternoon at work we were reviewing cards that my team had created for our personalized product online, and one had a painting that someone referred to as a "God sky." And wouldn't you know it, this was the sky over I-35 as I drove home tonight! It is pretty spectacular the way the sunset's rays are breaking through the clouds.

Awesome sunrise

Gorgeous view on my way to work this morning!

X marks the spot

Here are a few photos of tonight's sky... with a giant "X." What that stands for, I have no idea. Cool clouds, though, and I love the dark silhouettes of the trees.

Sky on Fire

There was a spectacular sunset on my way home tonight (and believe me, I had plenty of time to enjoy it, as the traffic was backed up for miles!) I'd like to think it was in honor of Charlotte's birthday.

Thinking of you, buddy! : )

amazing sunset tonight

I was driving home from picking Atom up from the vet tonight (thankful that his illness is not as grave as I had feared) and I guess that got me in the mood to notice the beauty around me. I'm always thankful for some good news!