Orange and yellow daffodils

I went out for a walk this afternoon and went to the park. Spring is here, as evidenced by these daffodils:

I found these two daffodils fascinating, as the one on the right has an orange trumpet whereas the other has the standard yellow; there were two, possibly three other orange-trumpted daffodils among their yellow-trumpted relatives.

I love how the yellow flower is peeking around the orange one, as though the latter is looking at something interesting and the former doesn't want to miss out!

Today is also International Day of Happiness, so I hope that these two pretty flowers have made your made ever-so-slightly happier.

"Goodbye" - Kristinia DeBarge

In the spring into the summer of 2009, one of my favorite songs on the radio was "Goodbye" by Kristinia DeBarge; it is the first single from DeBarge's debut album, Exposed. "Goodbye" received frequent airplay for a couple of months before almost vanishing entirely from my local radio station and its programs; Debarge herself has vanished, too, as she is supposed to be releasing a second album, but I've read little about it and she is hardly mentioned in any news sources.

I'll be glad when she releases a second album, but for now we can enjoy this track:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4576ymdmemQ

"Goodbye" is also a song I listened to (twice) on the flight from Portland to Amsterdam, although the sentiment expressed by DeBarge in "Goodbye" is not how I felt about leaving the United States!

The lengthening days

Spring and summer are on their way. The days are undeniably longer than they were a month or even a week ago, with there still being a large amount of daylight available at 5:20pm; it's another twenty-five minutes after then when it becomes dark. It won't be long before both warm weather and evening walks in the light return.

The clocks in the United Kingdom go forward on the last Sunday in March, extending the days even further; this will occur on the 31st of that month for 2013, and by then we'll have entered spring. With it snowing again, I'm sure many people are looking forward to the end of winter!

A walk and a pond

A pond in my town has featured in two posts of mine. In the most recent post about the pond, I stated in the comments section that I hoped to get a picture of it in the spring with my main camera. Well, I took a walk yesterday and did exactly that:

Yes, it is covered in a significant amount of algae. Still, I wanted to get a photograph of the pond at this time of the year and now I have have done so (actually, I took four pictures of it).

My old view

When we lived in Oregon, I had my own room, and it was the smallest of the trio of bedrooms within our house. Despite this, it was still a large room if compared to British standards, and I had plenty of space for all my belongings; I also had a big desk for all my work, computer, and numerous other items. However, what I miss most about my old bedroom is not my desk or how spacious the room was, but rather, the view from my window.

As I sat at my desk, I could just look to my left towards a spectacular view of our front yard: we had two acres of land at the front of our house, containing a few trees (including some Christmas trees we planted), a gentle slope to the road, and plenty of grass. I would often see deer feast and/or rest in our yard, or watch dozens of small birds peck the ground.

I especially loved my room in spring: I would have the window open to allow in the breeze, and I would have my radio turned on to listen to my favorite radio station (itself a topic for another post). Whenever I looked out the window during that time of the year, the grass in the front yard would be a beautiful shade of green, and the trees would be full of leaves. Looking at the greenery while listening to my radio and having a cool breeze blow on me always cheered me up or calmed me down.

I deeply miss my old view and the positive feelings associated with it, but alas, I could not bring my view with us on our move. I am fortunate that our current residence has a relatively decent view from my window, even if it is of the local houses; but just like my view in Oregon used to be, I only have to look left to see it.

August 31st

I am amazed at how fast August appears to have gone, for in a few hours it will be September. Still, I should not be surprised as it has been an active and exciting month, with the trip to Nottingham and all that: to think that a mere three weeks ago we were bowling, and four weeks ago I had beaten my brother in an incredibly close game of Run Off.

Summer is not quite over, but it feels like it came and went ages ago: the majority of our really warm weather took place back in spring, and summer's weather has mainly been what we are used to from about this time of the year to October (cloudy, rainy, and/or windy). Last winter was very cold even by British standards, so I am curious to see just how cold this winter will be too, but before then, we now have autumn to look forward to after this fall-like summer.

Oh, a little off-topic, but remember the rafting trip I mentioned a couple of months ago? I checked, and that adventure took place exactly eight years ago to the date.