Painting the walls and sky

I have spent the last three days in Oklahoma helping Daughter #1 move into her new abode.  It's adorable. She has done an amazing job with colors and pictures.  It feels like a very comfortable, very sophisticated home.  It feels like I moved a heck of a lot of boxes in three days.   Oh. Dear.  I'm aching in places I forgot I had.


She got a lot of other help too, like a Whee who cleaned like a little dust devil,

and proved she can paint like a pro.  I told the Whee never, never, let people know you have a skill like that.  You'll suddenly have waaay too many friends.

I'm very excited that she has moved from an apartment to a house because now she can have a great yard and a garden!  Working in the dirt with my girls is a wonderful experience.  Flowers, Herbs,  Veggies.  Bugs.  Oh!  Don't tell her that, she won't come outside.

On my return to the Sunflower State, I was blessed with an Oklahoma thunderstorm.  I love storms in Oklahoma.  It's intense. It's exciting to watch.  You know why Oklahomans have storm sirens, right?  So we know when to go outside and watch!

The storm building up makes for some great sunsets.  Like this.

I recently asked an elderly gentleman what his favorite outdoor activity was, and he told me, "Collecting sunrises."  I think that's an excellent outdoor pursuit.

The drive also provided some doubly wonderful rainbows.  I love how the grain towers are framed between the rainbows.  It seemed like a fitting statement of blessing for all those farmers who needed the rain.

and then it made for four hours of driving in pouring rain at 40 mph.

But at the first, right when it started, and the big, fat drops were stretched out and streaking at an angle through the dark, headed for my windshield,  the headlights caught them and they sparkled like supersized glitter, and I felt like I was inside a giant snowglobe with the sparkles falling all around me.  And it was totally cool.

And between the girls, and the glitter, and the rainbows, and the sunset, it was all worth it, even the backache.