Another Date Worth Noting

Spring officially arrived yesterday, meaning that I survived my first dark, wet northwest winter, albeit with a month in the Large Amorphous Central Arizona Urban Area that I cannot quite fully escape. The winter was not as oppressive as I feared--I actually enjoy winter's long, dark days and it's brilliant night skies. Yeah, the cloud cover limits sky watching but I had plenty of opportunity to see the moon, planets and stars during the breaks in the weather. The other night, I had a grand view of the moon, the star Regulus and Saturn, all lined up in a tight little formation in the eastern sky. We seem to have had plenty of sunny days this past winter; when the sun is out this place sparkles, especially the views of Mt. Ranier and the Cascade Mountains to the east and the Olympic Mountains to the northwest. Now that the days are longer, I've been able to get out on my bicycle, a perspective that is so different from inside a vehicle or even walking. Olympia is definitely a bicycle friendly town. Riding here in traffic is a piece of cake compared to Phoenix and I don't have to outrun dog packs the way I did in on the rez.

The local paper says the weather is cooler than normal for this time of year but that does not seem to bother the local flora, which are beginning to show their blossoms and shoots. Daffodils are in bloom, as are various other plants that I cannot identify. (For someone who spends so much time outdoors, I have a shameful lack of knowledge of botany which, fortunately, does not limit my enjoyment.) Trees are beginning to sprout their first buds; soon my view of the state capitol dome will disappear behind a green canopy for the next six months. The climate here is much like the one I left behind 26 years ago when I moved to Arizona. Imagine, four distinct seasons.

In this time of endless war, I find solace in the timeless cycles of nature.