Seasonal Time

We have lived in Las Vegas for five years. There are many benefits to living in Las Vegas, not the least of which are mild winters and early springs. One of the downsides is the absence of a changing of seasons. We have color out our backdoor all winter long. Spring comes in early to mid-February and the Bradford Pears are good for about 10 days. We do have flowers that bloom for the next 3 months and many of them last all summer and well into the fall.

Cedar Rapids, IA - Donna and Sally

However, I have noticed over the last two springs and winters there has been a change in how I perceive time. After living in the Midwest for almost 40 years I became very acclimated to 4 seasons and constructed part of my feelings and expectations of time based on the expectation of 4 seasons. 


Those of us who have four seasons know they are considerably different. They each make contributions to our lives, both in perceptions, attitudes, and activities. Consciously or unconsciously we schedule ourselves within the context of our seasons. In many ways we consciously and unconsciously schedule ourselves around those seasons/ Just as sport is seasonally based, we too are seasonally based. Most of us are only indirectly aware of our linkage to seasons. When you lose the seasons you struggle to gain a new sense of seasonal time. 


For example, as we came to the end of the spring semester at the university, I have found myself thinking it can't possibly be the end of the academic year. We had missed fall and winter. I felt a sense of incompleteness, or emptiness, as we moved into our summer. Absent from my Las Vegas experiences are extended periods of fall, spring, and winter. We have all four seasons in Las Vegas, but to a much lesser degree. We have the colors year-round as well as similar weather, just varying degrees temperature with an occasional (and I use the term occassional loosely) rain shower or snow shower.

Fall in Terre Haute, IN - One of the prettiest places for fall
that we ever lived in.

What I'm feeling as we come to the end of the academic year is a lack of closure in my seasonal time. Intellectually I know that May signals the start of spring, the end of winter and the school year, but in the absence of easily definable seasons I feel incomplete. There is an absence that I stuggled to understand until I realized I'm still a product of midwestern seasonal time. It's unsettling, even after you understand it. I suspect that if I stay in Las Vegas long enough I will ultimately change my personal conception of seasonal time.

I always took seasonal time for granted. I suspect that if I had lived in Las Vegas my entire life I wouldn't be influenced by the lack of seasons. But since I have spent the bulk of my life living through the 4 seasons I find the absence of the seasons creating a dissonance of how I perceive closure. I am not even sure that "closure" is the proper term, but that's the feeling I get in the spring. "It can't be spring when we have missed fall and winter." But interesting side note is that these feelings didn't occur in the first three years that we were here. But this year I have noticed it more than ever. Even spending 2 1/2 weeks in cold in wintery Idaho didn't make up for a full winter season. Don't get me wrong, I'm not missing winter - just the seasonal time winter creates for me.

Denver, CO while we were visiting the Allen family

Seasonal time is as real as clock time. With a clock we can monitor the time of day. With the change in seasons we can monitor the change in temperature, daylight, color, clothing, and the like. When we change our seasonal time we lose a part of what has been ourselves. I don't think that is negative, but I've never seen anyone write about seasonal time - although I know they have. For those of you with 4 seasons, enjoy them. For those of us without 4 seasons we will just adapt.

Taken at a county park south of Terre Haute, IN. This represents the king
of summer and green that we miss in Las Vegas. It is also one of my
favorite photos.

A Granddaughter's Photo of Grandpa & Grandma

The following photo was posted on Facebook back in April, but since JoAnn and I don't get on Facebook as often as maybe we should, so we didn't see it right away. Alyssa, our oldest granddaughter, took this photo while we were at Red Rock Park and Amphitheater in Denver for spring break. We really like the photo and wanted everyone to know how much we appreciate Alyssa taking this photo and sharing it with us and others. Grandchildren are great and we love all 18 of them.

Wordless Wednesday following Baggy Saturday

Two weeks ago the Hansen's showed up for Spring Break, which also means, Baggy Saturday - helping Grandpa prune the trees and shrubs. This year we set a record with 16 43-gallon trash bags. I'm not sure the boys will be looking for another year, but we are getting quicker each year. It only took about 3.5 hours to do this and it only represents 2 trees!

click on the photo to enlarge

Morning Walks

I've always enjoyed morning walks, but since last fall it has once again become a habit that I can really enjoy. Also, living in Las Vegas means that I can walk outside except on those really cold mornings (which are like spring mornings elsewhere). Some morning I start and finish before the sun comes up, but as we blend into spring and get closer to summer and the days grow longer the mornings change. If I really sleep in (past 5 am) then I may need my sun glasses or pull my hat down low. In 6 to 8 weeks I'll be wishing for those cool and dark mornings and a walking temperature under 80.

I especially have enjoyed my walks this spring as I've watched the trees bloom and drop, the pansies bloom and stay (it doesn't get cold enough for crocuses and tulips unfortunately) and just recently the bushes have all come out in color. Sunday morning I took my longest walk since coming back to walking and was rewarded with some beautiful bushes. I slept in, got up about 6 and was walking along the beltway and towards the northern end of our neighborhood. I stopped and took a couple of photos with my phone tos share and remind me of the beauty that is all around us.

My walks are enjoyable. It's a time to relax before the day begins and be mindful about what the day will bring and what I will contribute. I do look forward to these morning walks with family, but that doesn't happen often. I'm wondering if walking is becoming a lost art or are we just too busy to enjoy the beauty this is all around us.

Wordless Wednesday

What a Difference a Week Makes

WARNING: Those of you living in cold climates may find this post a bit hazardous to your mental health.

It hardly seems like it has been a week when we were in the midst of our winter monsoon season. I'm still not sure what our total rainfall was, but I know it was considerably less for 5 days than for a half-day in the midwest. Of course that doesn't make it any safer to drive here. Rain in Las Vegas is like driving on snow the first time in the winter. Cars are everywhere, but where they belong.

We were driving home from the Las Vegas Temple last Friday night (February 5) and took the following photo while we were waiting for a light to change. We've been by this place a number of times, but have yet to stop. One of these days we are just going to have to stop. Friday night was not the time, since they do not have an indoor area to eat.


This week, however, has been more friendly to us Las Vegans. It has been warming up steadily and while we can still see snow on the distant mountains (for us that counts as winter), I knew we were closing in on a patio lunch when JoAnn told me yesterday she wore her Birkenstocks yesterday without socks. So today, we tried lunch on the patio. It was 67 and as long as you sat in the sunshine it was wonderful. In fact, as you can see from the photo, lunch was over, but the sun held us in our location - well at least JoAnn, as one of us had to take a photo.


For all of you who have suffered through the last 10 days of winter we feel for you, but as my brother used to say to me, "My heart cries peanut butter for you," you know we don't really feel that way, we just wake up every morning, put on a light jacket, look out the back window and head for work or play. Oh yes, what we look at are our Pansies, which we have enjoyed all winter and will expand next winter.

Spring is in the air...

In Las Vegas spring has been in the air for almost 3 months now and we have had some great weather, but it is finally sitting on the back patio on Sunday afternoon weather. That's when you know spring has really arrived. If we measure it by spring flowers we are 2 months into spring. If we measure it be temperature we are 6 weeks into spring. If we measure it by patio weather, we are right on target.

After a light lunch JoAnn and I adjourned to the back patio to relax. I had a paper to edit and she had a book she is committed to finish before sisters' weekend. I realized this was a great photo opportunity, so I went in pulled out my trusty tripod, set it up, made sure it was level, attached the camera, and then said, "How do I set the timer?" I do it so often! I looked at the multitude of buttons, screen options, and the like and finally found a button on the front side of the camera body that looked like a timer button. I pushed it and on the screen came up "self-timer shooting." Good, I have it, but nothing happened. Maybe I need to push the shutter button (okay, shutter button definitely relates to my age). I tried the shutter button, a beeping started and I figured I had 10 seconds to make it to my chair, sit down, and look natural. Of course I forgot, I also had to smile. A few photos and sprints to the chair later we had a couple of good photos (or marginally so).

I call this the reluctant guest - very teenish, if you have teens you know what I mean.

Then I went and got the cat. She had been roaming around the edges of the shooting. Put her in my lap, next to JoAnn and made a shot. Try holding a cat and setting the camera for a time shoot at the same time. We were good for 1 shot only. She climbed up on the table wandered around and then plopped herself down right in front of the camera and stared at it. Well, if that isn't a natural shot, I don't know what is. I rush over to the camera, start the timer and then rush back. She looks at the camera, listens to the beeps, and then, just before the camera shoots, she turns her head, or stretches out, or changes position. I tried this about 5 times and the same result each time. As long as the camera was quiet or beeping she would look at it, but the moment the beeping stopped and it was ready to shoot, she turned away. I finally gave up and just took a couple of shots before she realized what I did. She is our teenager and almost as obnoxious as a real teen.

Who do you think is in charge?

It's great to have a spring day and a Sunday afternoon to enjoy it. We hope your spring days are all bright and beautiful.

A Mostly Quiet Rainy Saturday

It is an unusual day in Las Vegas - a quiet rainy Saturday. It feels like an Indiana spring day. The rain is soft and the sky is varying shades of gray, as opposed to the slate gray of an Indiana winter. Spring in Indiana is beautiful as the dogwoods, daffodils, and crocuses come alive and populate the woodlands.

In Las Vegas our springs come earlier, and especially this year, and typically dryer, so an Indiana spring day is a bonus. We don't have dogwoods, crocuses, or daffodils. We do have pansies and a variety of plants that bloom all winter. For us that is a real bonus. As I looked out the back window and across the partially submerged patio I see yellow, red, and lavender flowers. Several are in the early stages - especially the red ones, while others have been around for weeks.

While the midwest has suffered through an excruciatingly cold winter, we in Las Vegas have had a beautiful January with temperatures 5 to 10 degrees above normal. My midwestern friends and family call and I'm always telling them there is a 65 degree difference. However, I'm digressing.
As we sit around with daughter number 3, who is visiting, we are baking cookies, listening to a little Norah Jones and Jack Johnson (at least I am) and relaxing. We didn't do that all day, as evidenced by the photo. We were up early and I was out working on cleaning the front yard up about 7:30 am (after I had been bribed to go to Panera Bread for some breakfast goodies). I got a couple of driveway offending limbs cut off of our only front yard “real tree” and then we began to work on the yard.

You would think that a yard with NO grass and just a few desert shrubs wouldn't be much to take care of, but over the last 18 months some of those desert shrubs got big. We didn't realize how big they had become until we looked at a photo of the house when we first purchased it. Surprise! Our shrubs were totally out of control. They had quadrupled in size. In midwestern terms that means a bush 1 foot tall was not 10 feet tall. In desert terms, not quite so bad.
It was time to get serious and with daughter 3 in town we had a solid worker. Grandma and I purchased a new hedge trimmer (big one) and this morning I went to work. Okay, we went to work - all 3 of us. I was a little concerned about making noise too early in the morning until our neighbor down the street got out his 4-wheeler off-road vehicle and went up and down the street without a muffler. Okay, noise is now appropriate.
Two hours later we have 8 bags of cuttings in front of the house and it's only until Monday when the garbage man comes, but the yard looks - or at least will, great. Actually, right now it looks like a bad haircut, but when the bushes turn green and the others begin to grow back it will look great - for rocks, microdust, a few plants. The photo of me sitting and Suzanne working wasn't wholly true. I did sit, but then I did also work. Suzanne just worked harder.
All done and time to shower. We were so sweaty and smelled of sage that we just dumped out clothes in the washing machine before we took off for a little shopping. Come on - Mom, Daughter, and a driver. What more can they ask for. Although I did find Harry & David's right next to where the girls were and did a little Valentine shopping. I know, it's a week away, but I have little chance of remembering until then.

Back home to make sugar cookies and my next post will be a real treat. I downloaded a timelapse software for my iPhone and used it to take photos of the cookie baking. The girls kept saying, "What is that noise?" And them Mom couldn't find the phone/camera.

Day is done, sun is down, water is receding for a record high on our patio, cookies are made, time for some veggies! And maybe a little fruit. Tomorrow we are planning our first "barbecue" of the season. Eat your heart out midwesterners.

I call the following photo "desert zero-depth patio." For you non aquatic types that means a beach type entrance into a pool.

Good to be in Iowa - Believe it or Not

I sit here writing this post on the second floor and northwest corner of Tim and Lonita's home, listening to the wind blow; and blowing it is! Until you have lived in the midwest and participated in a northerner you have difficulty understanding just how much the wind can blow. As I write this post the weather channel says the temperature is 6 degrees F with a wind chill of -15 F and a wind blowing from the NW at 21 mph and gusting to 30 mph. Now that has all the beginnings of a true northerner and reminds us of the years we lived in Iowa, especially the winters.

The morning started pleasantly enough at 27 F and when I compared it at 8 am to our other families cities only Las Vegas was warmer. However, that has all changed. By the time 11:30 am got here the temperature had only dropped one degree, the wind was only 8 mph (see to the right), we had a light snow, and it felt 17 F.

I have taken a little effort to point things out on the graphic to the right to make sure everyone understands "how" to read it. Our kids used to tell us the weather channel was old folks "MTV" and I think they were probably right. Since we have moved to Las Vegas we don't watch it any more. Go figure! Actually the whole thing is really self explanatory, so read it for yourself. If you can't figure it out it's because you either don't live in the midwest or you aren't old enough.

The early mild temperature didn't last long, by the time 1 pm rolled around we had dropped 6 degrees in real temperature and 13 degrees in wind chill and the wind was picking up.

Three hours later we began to feel the real brunt of the weather and we had not even gotten to the cold part of the evening yet. A little after 4 pm we were down to a wind chill -10 F, in just 3 hours. We are just beginning to feel a real Iowa winter.

You have got to wonder how the early settlers handled this kind of weather. Some of Willa Cather's "O Pioneers". She writes, speaking of Nebraska (which is only 3 hours away by car), "Winter has settled down over the Divide again; the season in which nature recuperates, in whcih she sinks to sleep between the fruitfulness of autumn and the passion of spring. ... The ground is frozen so hard that it bruises the foot to walk in the roads or in the ploughed fields. It is like an iron country, and spirit is oppressed by its rigor and melancholy. One could easily believe that in the dead landscape the germs of life and fruitfulness were extinct forever" (pp 185-186). And so it does feel that way sometimes, but when you sit in the comfort of your home with your family you have faith and know spring will come again, the green will return, and this winter will be left behind as a receeding memory.

It is good to be in Iowa - believe it or not!

Western Iowa along Interstate 80 at 20,000 feet (or so) - Not quite what Willa Cather remembers, but things have changed in the last 100 years.