Hard rain welcomed.

Out of the many good things about Florida living is the nice hard tropical rains that we get. Today was one of those days. It began as a dark cloud and then developed into a loud thunder and flashy light show. The best part about it is you don't have to put up with overcast all day to get a storm in the afternoon. Earlier today was a beautiful day.

I lived 7 years of my life in Beaverton, Oregon. This is a beautiful town just outside of Portland. I should say gorgeous because there are so many things that stand out. Mount Hood is one hundred miles away. When I first learned this I was stunned because when you are moving down Sunset highway it looks like it is right there. One hundred miles! I loved seeing that gorgeous hunk! Also the folks in Oregon are very enviromentally conscious. This means that things shine and they realize the importance of having trees and letting nature do it's thing. I am happy for them that they love the color green brought on by all that drizzle. Because the one issue that I personally had with that area is rain! Not a nice solid blanket of water falling to moisten the Earth. No. Just a constant dripping in a weepy atmosphere destined to last for days and days. The last spring that I spent there I swore to leave. Even the beauty of the summer that followed did nothing to shake my decision.

I would look at the stunning rainbows that occur there and say "These, I will miss.", but I knew my Oregon days were numbered. I could not bear the drizzle and overcast days anymore.

Other things ended up being the determining factor for leaving Oregon. And I was sad. I did love the friendliness of the people. I knew I would miss their smart ideas about the environment. Familarity breeds contentment and I was happy with the places that I knew. My girls did alot of growing up there and I was leaving behind memories. But I was happy to be returning to a sunny place.

I never really thought about rain. Being from Kentucky we do have those heavy half a day or half an hour downpours, complete with the loudest and scariest thunder and lighting .

But one day after I had returned to my moms in Kentucky and we were all standing on my cousin Garlands farmhouse porch, looking at the coming rain, Steve said. "Man, I have only seen rains like this one other time in my life.' He thought it was incredible. When I saw it that way I thought Yeah, it really is. It is rare to see this type of storm in Beaverton.

I have to say that I do love the storms here in Florida. I do not want to see the toronado warning on my television screen though.

Another great day...

Each weekend Steve and I decide to take action on some part of our home for improvement. Actually, I guess it's really me that makes that decison, but he usually agrees, sometimes enthusiastically but mostly grudgingly. I know that he only gets 2 days off and he works in the heat but dammit I NEED HELP! Anyway, this is how it usually goes. We wake up. (He always brings me coffee, every morning, without fail) We get into some depressing discussion usually about our kids about some stupid thing that they have done lately. (I am only being honest here, girls)
Then we realize that we are going over the same crap so we say, " Lets go eat." This is where the projects go up in smoke. It never fails that once we leave the house there is no telling when we will come back. Our dogs know this. When we get ready to leave, they are trying to block our way. They have tears in their eyes. They are saying , "Hey, when are you going to spend some quality time here with us, your children?"
Anyway, we could end up anywhere. But today we got some really good stuff just because we decided to take a little drive and ended up in one of our favorite areas here, Riverside. This area to those of you not familiar to Jacksonville neighborhoods is full of beautiful old renovated homes that are just gorgeous and make your eyes water just to look at them. It is an area rich in history and it's easy to imagine how it was when people owned these huge homes years ago. Check out this link if your interested. http:/www.jaxhistory.com/Jacksonville%20Story/Tracing%20the%20History%20of%20Buildings.htm. When we go we sometimes visit the the Cummer museum, sometimes we go to see the River, or to visit the different little shops. But today .... tada we just found treasure. As we were driving down a tiny little interesting alley, we spotted (how should I put this) a load of good castoffs. Defination, other peoples trash. I found a great old vintage outdoor metal chair. I mean it is great. It is alittle bit rusted but that is NO problem. I can't wait to have it painted in one of those dreamy parfait colors from the fifties. We also found some huge concrete planters with rocks and glass embedded in them. Lovely. Some nifty little bamboo nets that Ayla will love. And a beautiful huge gas grill in great shape. Jeeze, good thing we brought the truck. And good thing Steve has muscles!
We are very happy with our little treasures. All we need is a barn. Yes, someday.
Unfortunately, our projects must wait til next weekend. Yes, we'll make a list!