Simple Joys

So, today it began to storm as Debbie and I were getting ready for Friday night dinner & Bible study. Flashes of lightning filled the rooms, and cracks of thunder grew progressively louder and scared poor Sam. Two of the neighbor girls, Christy and Paige (there's an American family across the street now) ran over to see if I wanted to go play in the rain with them, so out we went. We danced in the streets, splashed in puddles, ran around with our arms open, jumped around and acted silly, pointed in awe at huge bolts of lightning, and on more than one occasion let out a squeal at a particularly loud peal of thunder. We got soaked, and came in bedraggled and dripping, but it was SO much fun to just go outside, run around, and enjoy God's storm. (no, I didn't take the picture...but it looked about like this!)

The Weather

Yes, this is a blog about the weather. You know, everyone always talks about talking about the weather as if it were a last-ditch conversation effort, but really, sometimes it really is worth mentioning! If it's been raining for a month solid and you get a morning of blue skies and sunshine, Yes! the weather is an exciting topic! If you live in Phoenix and the sun shines and bakes and fries and broils every single day of the year, and you wake up to the sound of raindrops, Yes! the weather is very exciting! And if it should happen to begin to really storm, YAY! call your friends (we were always 'storm buddies') and get excited together because the weather is so darn exciting!

I cannot wait to go back to having rain be something to look forward to instead of dread. It has rained every day for longer than I can keep count. I can hardly wait for spring. I love rain - in Phoenix. Here...it's just another day that we're mostly stuck playing inside, and it's cold and wet and muddy out. The weather has been mild, between about 2 and 10 degrees over the last couple weeks. Then today's weather was just . . . wow. I woke up to a partly cloudy sky, very excited to see blue. Then it was fully cloudy. Then fully sunny, with dark clouds on the horizon. Got some rain. More sunshine - actually got to wear my sunglasses! Then SNOW. Then sunshine. Then rain. Now it's dark and we can't see the weather anymore. But it's cooold. Woo-hoo. At least the sun has started getting up around 8 and going down at 5:30ish, instead of the mid-winter up at 9 and down by 4. Every day is a little longer....by the time I leave, it will be up at 5ish and down at 11ish. Yay sunlight!!