Monday, January 03, 2011

Blue sky Portland

Blue sky Portland
It's funny how grateful I can be for the simplicity of blue skies when you live in a place where they can be few and fleeting during many months of the year. I'm grateful for Portland teaching me this lesson.

Fleeing Southern California many moons ago, I left a place where blue skies were the norm, and I grew up wearing short sleeved shirts and shorts year round. I don't miss that life one bit—don't be fooled by my waxing poetically about blue sky. You don't realize what you have when you have it all of the time, and you certainly don't have the extreme beauty of seasonal changes: spring blooms, fall color, the quiet of snow as it covers a neighborhood.

A friend recently reminded me without the dark, there can be no light. And that is how it is with winter, with sunshine, and with rain. I so value this dark time of year to be introspective, mindful, focused, and questioning, but when that sun comes out? I go to it like a meth head jonesing for a fix. (You thought I was going to use a lovely nature inspired analogy there? Ha!)

Go to the sun, fellow winterbees. Drink it in, feel the Vitamin D curse through your veins. Fill up your sunshine tank and bask in the euphoria of your high. I certainly am.

8 comments:

dawn said...

there's been far too little Vitamin D availability in not-so-sunny So Cal for too many weeks now.

danger garden said...

It looked so beautiful out there today! I leashed the dog and bundled myself up for a long walk in the sun...but DAMN it was cold! The wind just bit right through my layers. I retreated home much sooner than I planned and enjoyed it from inside.

Anonymous said...

I'm not terribly fond of cold weather but the sunshine and blue sky have been just wonderful. By mid afternoon it's actually quite pleasant. [No wind down here in Albany.]

Laguna Dirt said...

not to whine, ok, a little whine, but we are starting to build our ark down here...does make us appreciate that great star when it shines, though!

e said...

It was beautiful while it lasted! Freaking cold, and even the ferns look dessicated, but beautiful nonetheless.

scottweberpdx said...

So very true...how can we appreciate beauty to it's fullest if we get too used to it. Also, there is so much to love about those rainy, gray days. These past few cold, clear days have been a nice break, however...and i always love those fleeting glimpses of Mt. Hood covered in snow!

Orchids said...

Oh such clear blue sky after wintery darkness. Looks so refreshing..Love to be outside.

Anonymous said...

So true! I grew up in Southern California and it was just one boring sunny day after another. Really, you have to be FROM someplace like the midwest to really appreciate California.

As for me, I really APPRECIATE and love weather changes. You really pay attention when it's a blue-sky day here!