Snow and wind and sun....

In the last two weeks, I've driven in a snowstorm, been nearly blown off my feet and got a nice sunburn.... and I haven't even left PHOENIX!

The weather sure has been goofy all winter... no, scratch that, the weather has been goofy for a long time now. Even our summers have been weird the last couple of years, and that's just crazy because if there's one thing at all that everyone expects of the Great State of Arizona is that the summers are HOT. The summers are hot, don't get me wrong, but ... well, its hard to quantify. Its just different. It was really fun to see snow here though again. The last time I saw snow fall in Phoenix, and actually stick to the ground, I was camping at Lake Pleasant for spring break. Good times.

O language, O spoken word, why do you fail me? Although, I suppose, I am actually the one failing you. Never able to find the right word, never able to express myself accurately enough.... and there is the whole "cuss like a sailor" thing, too. Alright, fine, I am the actual problem here, not you.

I feel very scattered today. Lots of thoughts, very little direction or focus. Kind of like the weather has been lately - lots of activity, but nothing consistent.

Bill and I went gold panning last weekend, near Crown King. Because of the wacky snow/rain we've been having lately, a lot of the little streams and creeks that are usually dry are now running with some water. Maybe not a LOT of water, but some. Enough to go gold panning in, and so that's what we did. Its a tedious process that requires lots of time and LOTS of patience, with a big heaping helping of luck. Sadly, luck seemed to not be with us as we didn't find any gold. We did find some garnets, a nice piece of amethyst and some other nice rocks. We also met a fellow gold panner, and her pack of super cute dogs. The weather was nice, although the wind was pretty brisk, so it was nice to be out and about in general. Heck, any day I can spend playing with rocks is a good day! I have a few pictures, which I may add later...

Lots of things planned, lots of things going on.... books to edit, stories to write, classes to take, on and on. I have moved away from feeling overwhelmed, and now I just feel like I'm adrift. I'm not actually sure which feeling I dislike more. I'm also tired, and I just want to drift for now...

So, drift I will...