A Door County Spring by Katherine Hastings
Katherine Hastings, author of the upcoming "In The Assassin's Arms" is sharing her experience with spring with us.
A Door County Spring
I’m writing this sitting out on my back porch. It’s only forty degrees out right now, but after a long Wisconsin winter, it feels like a ninety-degree summer day. We always joke in Wisconsin that when temperatures drop to this range after a long, sweltering summer we are whining and crying, bundling up beneath thick winter coats and grumbling about the cold. However, after winter, when the same temperatures return, you’ll see us running around in shorts and t-shirts, sunglasses balanced on our noses and goofy grins spread wide while we skip around in the sunshine. Perception is a powerful beast, and right now I’m soaking up every ounce of this “heat wave”.
Spring in my community is a season of changes, not only in weather, but in the energy around us. I am fortunate enough to call Door County, Wisconsin my home. Known as the Cape Cod of the Midwest, its natural beauty and charming character draw in millions of visitors all summer long. In the winter the population in my town is three hundred. In the summer it explodes into the tens of thousands, and that’s not counting the hundreds of thousands of tourists who join them.
Each winter, the tourists take off and leave what’s left of the brave… those of us who can endure the cold, quiet, and isolated existence on this large island. After a season busy with work and people, we all settle into the new norm… the slow life. We enjoy the solace and take the time to recuperate and prepare for the next season. The first few months are heaven, a time for relaxing and catching up with friends you couldn’t see all summer. Everyone was busy working their three jobs. However, in the winter we have all the time in the world.
It isn’t until January, sometimes February if you’re lucky, that the constant drone of the mundane starts to fray your nerves. You’re starting to search for fresh faces and new conversations. You’ve eaten at the same three restaurants, the only ones of hundreds that stay open, so many times you don’t need to look at the menu anymore. Just last week my husband and I were driving and passed three cars on the road. I looked at him with wide eyes.
“Whoa! What’s up with all the traffic?”
He shook his head. “I have no idea.”
It was only then that I realized we considered seeing three cars in under a minute “traffic.” I burst into laughter. That was the definitive moment I knew I was ready for spring.
The snow is melting and soon the little blossoms will pop up their heads. Our cherry orchards will bloom with white flowers that roll on for acres. Any day now the ice will push out and the water surrounding us on all sides will return with the sounds of the soft lapping of waves that I can usually hear when I sit on this porch. Everything will spring to life and soon everywhere I turn will catch my breath with the beauty my hometown is known for. Shortly after that, the people will return.
My abandoned town will once again be filled with laughter and life. Children and families will splash in the water at the beach where I spend every summer day floating in my raft and writing. Traffic will keep me held at bay at my intersection for minutes waiting for my chance to pull out. Restaurants, stores and other business will open their doors and we’ll be overwhelmed with so many choices again. And I’m ready for it all.
I’m ready to get stuck in standstill traffic while people slam on the brakes to gasp at one of our incredible sunsets. I’m ready to wait in line for twenty minutes at our tiny grocery store to buy a gallon of milk. I’m ready to feel the energy pulsing off all the people overwhelmed by the sights and sounds of the places I see every day. Instead of being irritated by the slow crawling traffic, I remind myself to slow down as well and see things how they see them. To keep seeing the beauty of my little corner of the world with fresh new eyes.
Spring to me means life… not just in the plants and the flowers and the waking of all my little yard pets. It means humans and families and laughter and joy. It means the smell of fresh water and the sound of crashing waves. It’s live music rolling up the bluff from the beach bar below my house while I sit on the porch, wrapped in my husband’s arms under the stars and sip on a glass of wine, my dogs curled up quietly in my lap. Spring is a shift in the world here, not just in the season. And I’m ready for it.
IN THE ASSASSIN'S ARMS
by Katherine Hastings
Series: Dagger of Desire
Historical Romance
Fiery Seas Everlasting
July 10, 2018
John Douglas may be a well-trained political assassin, but he has met his match in the woman he once called a friend. When his childhood playmate reenters his life, she's not looking to rekindle their friendship... she's out for blood.
With a vendetta to settle, Charlotte Cornewalle isn't stopping until she finds the man who killed her father. All signs point to Robert Douglas, the leader of the opposing faction of assassins... and John's father. To get her revenge, no one will stand in her way... not even the boy she once adored.
Fate forces them together as they fight to prove their innocence and right the wrongs they have suffered. Sparks fly from more than just their swords, but will they be able to put the past behind them? Will they be able to find the truth before it destroys them both?
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Katherine Hastings loves love. It’s why she writes romance novels. Getting lost writing a romantic adventure is one of her favorite pastimes. When she’s not on an adventure in her mind with her characters, she can be found at her home in Wisconsin snuggling her husband, two Boston Terriers, and the world’s naughtiest cat.
Two things make Katherine want to leave her happy home these days... going for rides on her dressage pony or floating at the beach in her big inflatable raft. Writing her novels while floating in the lake is one of her ultimate pleasures... that and Fried Wisconsin Cheese Curds, of course.
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