Scribbles and thoughts ...

These are ramblings from J L Wilson, published author of romantic suspense, mystery, and paranormal -time travel fiction....

Tuesday, February 03, 2009

Ah, winter ....


I live in Minnesota, and it feels like we've had winter just about forever. This is the first winter in a few years that has been a Real Winter -- lots of snow, lots of cold, and only one real 'thaw', where the temps got above freezing for a day or two.

I've found as I've gotten older that winter seems to last longer. When I was a kid, spring came with Easter and summer came when the swimming pool opened. But now I count spring as starting on March 21 (even if it snows that day) and summer begins on the first day I can wear shorts and be comfortable. It's my way of stretching out the seasons, I guess.

A thing I do at this time of year is take a sunny day and go to the nearby conservatory (link below) or to the Mall of America for the day (it's not far from my house). The MOA has a lot of great interior landscaping, and it's fun to wander around inside in the warmth and shed my winter coat for a while. And the conservatory reminds me of what is just around the
corner -- warmth, humidity, and that delightful smell of damp earth, waiting to be turned.

It won't be long now!

Here's some sights to get us through these bleak later winter days ....










4 comments:

Phoenix said...

But the mall is so noisy and parking is ridiculous. :( Not a fan of MOA. In the ten plus we lived there, I went four times. Three of them because visiting family demanded it.

J L said...

Ah but you have to go at 10:00 in the morning when it opens. It's perfect. And I've never parked more than a few steps from a door -- that's one thing that's great about MOA.

Of course, I don't go between October and January, either -- too busy!

Phoenix said...

I guess. One things for sure, the Cinnabonnes makes me hungry even when I'm not. That lower level is a killer of temptation.

Kim Smith said...

Hoping you have a "warm" sunny weekend ahead.