Rain, Rain, Go Away

At the outset, let me apologize because I am in a grumpy mood today.  It's probably because of the dreary weather.  When I first woke up and it was thundering, I was happy about it.  Rain always puts me to sleep, so I rolled back over and snoozed a little later than anticipated.  But then, from the moment I got up, it seemed like everything fell apart.

Instead of dwelling on the things that make me cranky, I am going to post some pretty pictures and hope that it lifts my spirits (and maybe yours too).  These are some pictures from a trip I took to England after my freshman year of college.  Looking at pictures of trips lifts my spirits.

Lemon trees are so pretty.  I don't know what it is that appeals to me, but I think the contrast of the yellow and green is just so cheery.  Supposedly green lifts most people's spirits, too.  I learned that when I was reading a magazine about wedding planning.  It suggested green bridesmaid dresses because it lifts spirits and feels so cheerful.  I'm not planning on green bridesmaid dresses, but if it lifts people's spirits at a wedding, it must lift spirits in other areas of life too. 

This is a fountain that my aunt took me to see.  It may look ordinary, but its not.  Every hour on the hour, the parts start to move...  There's several layers of it, and the water flows down...until these little guys drop their drawers and pee into the bottom of the fountain.  Gotta love British humor.  (Humour?)

Pink house!  And it's not tacky like the houses at the beach.  Although, if you DID live at the beach, you would be obligated to have a saltwater taffy colored house.  On stilts.

This one is super duper old.  I like how quaint it is.  I could see myself living here, and putting little flower baskets on the window sills. 

More flowers.  Maybe that's why its raining today.  So that the plants can absorb all the water possible and then grow into beautiful flowers in just a few short weeks.  That darn groundhog promised me an early Spring and I am eager for it to start, damn it.

Another flower...  So pretty.  I hope there are beautiful flowers like this one growing right outside my apartment in just a few weeks. 

Am I the only one who thinks this is a very odd thing to put on a sign?  You can't see the bottom that well, but it says removed.  Cats Eyes Removed.  It makes it sound like to me there's a bunch of cats running around, bumping into things and getting run over by cars because they've got no eyes.  Apparently the Brits mean that the little reflector things on the road are taken out.  Not what I would have thought.  In fact, I never would have figured it out if I hadn't been with someone who had lived there for nearly twenty years.  She's American, too, (well technically now she has dual citizenship) and I remember thinking it was SO odd that she didn't think it was a strange thing to put on a sign, too.  She did laugh once I pointed it out though.

This is where I want to live.  In a house so old that it's kinda crooked and has a thatched roof.  I love thatched roofs.  Although, it does seem to me, after three years of legal education, that this would be something of an insurance nightmare.  It's definitely not a good idea to have old, dried out twigs and such as your roof in the event of a fire after a particularly dry spell.  Imagine how quickly it would all shoot up in flame.  But, still, its a cosmetic thing, and I would really really love to have a little crooked house in an adorable little village with lots and lots of thatched roofs. 

These are little houses on the beach at a place called Wells-next-the-sea.  The Brits are so funny; who would name a town something like that?  Why not just plain Wells?  People will know its right near the water when they come, or if they know anything about geography.  It was a pretty sweet beach though, the tides were so extreme that it would go out miles and miles and then come in again really suddenly and sometimes make people get stranded.

In Wells, I had my first real British fish and chips--and the guy working there talked to me and I could've sworn it wasn't English at all.  I must have looked retarded, asking him to repeat what he said to me over and over.  Luckily someone stepped in and translated for me.

All this looking at pictures from England really makes me wish I could go at the end of April to see the wedding.  Is that pathetic?  I don't know, but I can tell you that I will cancel all my plans to be at home to watch Prince William and Kate Middleton get married.  I shouldn't be so interested in something that has so little to do with my life, but I think they are beautiful.  And I love weddings.  Why wouldn't I love a wedding on such a grand scale?  It makes me kind of excited, thinking of all the possibilities.  What would I do if I could do anything?  And, even more importantly, what will Kate do?  She has much better taste than I do.  And it's pretty cool to think about how she could have pretty much whatever she wants.  So looking forward to it.  I have to admit, thinking about this makes me considerably less grumpy.   What WOULD I do if I could do anything? 

Still, I am ready for a little sunshine. 

Come on, Spring.  Come on.