Northern Lights Envy is a Thing

I was so frustrated with our cloud cover on Bluejay Drive last night. I literally stepped outside every few hours to hopefully catch sight of the Northern Lights.

Especially after viewing stunning photos from family Up North in Wisconsin and from the Twin Cities on up in Minnesota (like my niece's photo above). So lucky! So envious.

And I'm not kidding that there were clouds at 9 p.m., 10 p.m., and 2 a.m. But I could see something was hiding behind them!

Then.... shout out to Mr. Tiny Bladder for awakening my body at 5 a.m. I look out the bathroom window and see... stars! Holy crap! No clouds.

So I run out the front door and onto the driveway in my slippers and PJ's and finally caught a beautiful view above our tree line!

It was a brilliant pink! And because I was not exactly dressed to hop in the car and find an unobstructed view in an open field somewhere, I don't know if our pinks were attached to any greens like other photos I viewed. 

In retrospect, I should have. Because I didn't fall back asleep anyway for my 6:20 alarm.

So tonight I caught colors early...

As in sunset colors on my drive home from work. But because the Northern Lights are supposed to be visible like everywhere tonight, I will try again. Between sunset and choir practice. Then between choir practice and realistic bedtime.

Good luck to all of us Northern Lights dorks! 📷

Tuesday Randomness

Tuesday mornings are hard after being home and away from the office Friday through Monday. Add in cold air temps and darkness – and I wonder why I live here and why I can't win a lottery that equals early retirement. Ugh.

Of course, seeing that my Swedish Chef Mafia fantasy football team won again to remain the only undefeated status in our two Marketing Department leagues gives me reason to smile. I've got injuries and a very shallowly qualified bench so this status could change any week. Still it's kind of a fun as a "girl" to be kicking ass!

This Tuesday in particular also meant it was Veterans Day, so thank you to all of you who have served! Something I don't take for granted because I know I am too selfish to ever consider putting my life on the line for anything other than my hubby, kids and family. God bless you all!

This Tuesday in particular was also our monthly Girls' Night Out. We had 8 of us tonight at Ida's. So nice to catch up. And no, we're not girls anymore. Our conversations are around health issues and grand-babies and challenging Millennials at work (ha). As always, though, good food and great company!

I'm excited that this Tuesday also calls for a great chance to see the Northern Lights! 

Unfortunately, we have a cloud cover here in Wood County, Wisconsin. As of 8 p.m. failed photo shoot. I'll try again later. Or tomorrow night. 

Happy Tuesday to you all – and let's hit Hump Day with some attitude (and energy, please!).

Recovering in Dark Mode

I felt much better today. Pretty weak from lack of food and hydration, but I could work from home so that helped me take it easy.

What didn't help was just when I was feeling a bit energized, I swear it was getting dark out already. Looked at the clock and it 2:17 p.m. WHAT?

It wasn't my imagination. The rain started and stayed – and those dark clouds won't break up for days, I don't think. Uff da. 

Good thing I don't always count on the weather to lift my spirits. That's pretty much off the table from November to May. But if tomorrow goes even better and I survive all day at the "real" office, I'm hoping to join some church folks at the Best Christmas Pageant Ever movie after work.

Even if there's rain, my friend Kermit the Frog above knows it's often followed by rainbows. In whatever form you want! 🌈 Let's find our Rainbow Connection this week – for lovers and dreamers and Christmas-movie-junkie ME.

Pretty ... as in Pretty Cold

It was a pretty day to go golfing. But it was pretty cold. Like very cold. Like all of us were wearing long pants and jackets cold.

My friend Christine and I (and her niece and boyfriend) were a foursome for the Big Cup tournament at TriCity.

And by Big Cups, I mean we could putt all four of our balls into the hole. If we were that good. Ha.

Thankfully, it was a scramble and we had fun. Somehow managed to stay warm enough and beat the rain by 5 minutes. I guess it was more of a sprinkle. But we were glad to be done. Pretty sure we didn't win any prizes with our over-par score. But that's fine, too. I can go a day without winning something!

Tonight I labeled the last of my raffle baskets and did some hooking, er crocheting, while watching a Hallmark movie. A fall one, not Christmas. I gotta clear my DVR before I get onto the red-and-green Northern Lights-inspired ones!

But even without the brilliant colors, Mother Nature continues to impress and inspire me.

Hope you found something positive today, too!

Foggy with a Chance of Photo-Worthy Clouds

Tuesday was an emotional weather day. Is there such a thing? If not, I just made it up.

First I had to deal with thick fog on my morning commute. God thankfully answered my prayer of "Please keep the deer off the road" because they're active now and I wouldn't have seen them in time to stop. I didn't want to drive on the interstate because of yield signs and road construction, but after attempting a shortcut and seeing all traffic stopped for a train, I turned around.

I haven't been this grateful to arrive at work safely since the last winter storm!

All day I was monitoring the weather because I was supposed to take senior pictures at 6 p.m. and the various apps kept saying "rain and storms start at 6 p.m." So we changed our start time to a little before 5 p.m. to "beat the rain."

Well, we definitely beat it because it skirted around us somehow. Meanwhile we suffered in high 80s heat and about 300% humidity. Uff da. Thankfully it was a boy since they usually don't have to worry about the whole humidity and hair bad combo.

As we were wrapping up, I was treated to one amazing view of the storm clouds as they passed and the setting sun was catching up to them. 

I saw this view and was like, wow, that is cool. Then I zoomed in a bit was completely awestruck...

We've got a stormy sea with that peek into sunny skies in the middle. Wow. Just the coolest thing to capture!!

When I got home, we still had kick-ass cloud views, but nothing like that quick moment that I snapped before it moved on. Still... very cool. Thanks, God.

Speaking of photographers... I have still been pretty much bonding with Mr. Recliner and watching the Olympics. Gymnastics is pretty much my summer fave so I HAD to see those girls capture gold last night. Well, me along with all these photographers – and millions of viewers. Go team USA!!

Hope you're finding some photo-worthy moments in your life this week. Even if they're just nice moments with no cameras in sight!

Faith to Move (or See) Mountains

Most people know I like to take pictures of sunrises and sunset and yes, even clouds. When I pulled up to a stoplight on the way home and saw this, I immediately thought, "Hey, that looks like Denali!"

If you've ever been to Alaska, you know what I'm talking about. If you haven't, here's the legitimate scoop from Robyn-pedia.

Denali (aka Mount McKinley) is the tallest mountain in North America, rising some 20,000 feet. I can't think of anything to compare it to, but that's huge. Yet, sometimes you can't see it.

What?! How does a massive pile of granite play hide and seek? Well, in simple terms, it's so tall, it can create its own weather pattern and therefore, clouds to hide in. I'm serious! When my sister Renell and I were in Alaska a couple years ago and touring the national park named after Denali, we didn't see it all day. And then, when we did see it the next day, we exclaimed, "How the heck could we miss THAT?"

Well, all those mountains just above the trees in this photo are pretty big mountains. They just aren't "The Big One," as they call her, in the background. Since only 30% of tourists actually see Her, we felt extremely fortunate. As for the other 70% .... I mean they don't doubt Denali exists, do they?

It's like our current family situation is filled with big mountains right now. But even though we can't see God – the real Big One – we believe He's there. Thankfully, He shows Himself to us often enough, we don't forget.

How does He make His presence known? Oh, when Mom or Rachel have good days. Or even on bad days when He puts the right medicine in the doctors' hands to fight the next mountain of infection or other steep climb.

Thanks for working hard, Big One, even when we don't see You!

Tonight I saw a special movie that further reinforced my faith in, well, having faith!

Our local theater had a special preview showing of Unsung Hero – a remarkable true story following David Smallbone as he moves his family from Down Under to the States, searching for a brighter future after his successful music company collapses. With nothing more than their seven children, suitcases, and their love of music, he and his pregnant wife set out to rebuild their lives. As the story unfolds, Helen's faith stands against all odds and inspires her husband and children to hold onto theirs. And while their own dreams are on hold, the parents discover the musical talents of their children–who, of course, go on to become two of the most successful acts in Inspirational Music history: five-time Grammy Award-winning artists for KING + COUNTRY and Rebecca St. James.

Wow.

Even that was the Big One peeking out from His own weather system to say, "I'm here! I've got you."

Great story, great movie, and great music, too! Spoiler alert: The mom is the Unsung Hero. Find the song and listen! And, if you need a pick-me-up or reminder of how faith can move mountains, go see the movie when it comes out this weekend. And bring tissues!

Hopefully that's the only tears I'll need to shed today. My two favorite patients had pretty stable days today. 

Thanks, Big Guy.

Partial Eclipse of the Heart

It's hard growing up with the song "Total Eclipse of the Heart"and realize you can only have 82% eclipse of the sun. Still, I attempted to make due. Today was the solar eclipse of 2024. And since I was working from home today, I could capture a scarce few images since it was mostly cloudy here in central Wisconsin.

But I did put a "meeting" on my calendar from 1-2 p.m. and managed to capture a few pictures between the way too many clouds...

All set with "official" glasses!

It was a bummer that these clear breaks in the clouds were to the south of our house. Still, we just kept taking pictures when we could see it!

All of these are taken with my cell phone with those funny Eclipse glasses place over my lenses. 

Past the halfway point! 

And soon after, as if nothing had ever happened. That's why we capture these moments when we can – blurry or otherwise!

Hope you got to see a bit of history today, too!