Being a Pessimist...

...is not necessarily a bad thing. I suspect that I've been a pessimist all my life, even as a child.

I try not to be dismal in my pessimism, nor infective, and I tolerate, yea, even love, my optimistic friends. However, as a pessimist, I am hardly ever disappointed. Also, when I discover that things didn't turn out to be as bad as I expected, I experience many joyous moments.

A JOYOUS thing is this snippet garnered a few minutes ago from the local ABC television station (KATV) web site:

"Chilly across Arkansas this morning, but for most of us the sub-freezing temperatures did not occur. The reason...winds remained high overnight and kept the coldest of the air from settling down to the surface. "

Yes, the winds remained high. Each time last night that I stirred in my bed to the point of semi-consciousness I could hear my windchimes, and the turbine vents on my roof, one of which has a slight squeak as it turns. Music to my ears!

The sun is shining. It may be only 42 degrees outside, with a wind chill of 36, but it's beautiful, and my patch of Stars of Bethlehem is still bravely standing!

Spring? and An Anniversary of Sorts

Star of Bethlehem

Ornithogalum umbellatum

Lily family (Liliaceae)

I show the above photo as a reminder to me that Spring was here, if only temporarily. The temperatures are supposed to drop below freezing tonight, and the lovely flower, a photo of which was taken in my back yard two days ago, may be brown mush tomorrow. Only the passage of the night will show if the the weatherman is correct. We've had strong winds today, but until around 6 p.m. there was a lot of sunshine. Then the clouds moved in. Both clouds and wind are to go away overnight, allowing the cold front to drop in here and do its dastardly deed. Our church children will probably have a chilly Easter Egg hunt on Sunday, too. This weather is supposed to hang around for a while.

If I've calculated correctly, today is my one-year blogging anniversary. Also, if correct, I've posted 177 times (this one included), giving me a somewhat dismal record of posting on only 48% of the intervening 365 days. Ah, well. The other 52% of the days were spent doing something else: reading other folks blogs, reading books, working at church, taking care of dogs, cats, and grandchildren (not necessarily in that order), and leading a quite ordinary life.

When I started blogging, my main intention was to record some of my remembrances while I still had the memory to do so. I've done a bit of that, yes, but much of what I want to record is as of yet unwritten. Some of my dredged up memories are a bit hard to deal with, and I'm not sure they will ever be recorded, at least in a blog.

I've participated in theme posting to some extent, although I've let some of that go by the wayside of late. I've become very much interested in photography this past year, have acquired a new digital camera and some nice lenses, and am taking a lot of pleasure in trying to improve my skills in that area. I've learned a lot, in theory at least, from some excellent photographer/bloggers (too many to mention here, but they are listed in my side bar) and it gives me great enjoyment to read their blogs and look their photos. Thanks to you all!

One of the greatest pleasures of being a member of the blog community, however, is the contact I've made with other bloggers around the world: England, Europe, South America, Australia, Japan, India, Africa, and many, many places in the United States. Thanks to the Internet, it's a small world, after all.

Off now, to get a blanket for the bed. I may have some hot cocoa before I turn in, too. Surely, real Spring can't be too far away.