Tag: Nature

Fall Falls From Trees

Now the occasional drops have turned into carpet bombing. Mother Nature wants baby trees.

autumn leaves fallen.jpgIt’s sunny. It’s 70&#176. It’s breezy. It sounds like autumn!

Upstairs in my office the window is open. Outside leaves are rustling. They don’t make this kind of noise while they’re still supple. It’s a fall thing.

Last week I noticed how many acorns had fallen into my front yard. Now the occasional drops have turned into carpet bombing. Mother Nature wants baby trees.

I’d like to research the relative strength of this acorn season but the other ACORN has made searching a lot more difficult right now!

I wouldn’t dislike fall at all if it wasn’t the opening act for winter!

October begins Thursday. There’s no holding fall back.

Noisy Trees

Helaine just called to let me know the sound of ice falling off trees and striking our house is really loud. Mother Nature, have you no mercy?

The Giant Gets Slippery When Wet

Today’s discovery–it’s much more difficult to take our hike when it’s wet

It rained this morning. No, scratch that, it poured. By the time we got on The Giant the storm was finished, but it was still wet.

Today’s discovery–it’s much more difficult to take our hike when it’s wet. The rocks and pebbles that cover the trail started shifting with each step. My sneakers never got the traction I’m used to. Each step brought less distance.

On top of that it was humid. The dew point is hovering close to 70&#176. The sweat was pouring off me. Helaine doesn’t sweat, she glows.

For the first time in a long time we took a short break just before reaching the tower at the summit. Mother Nature wins.

We ran into Scot Haney on our way down. Scot’s a meteorologist for the competition in Hartford. He was in the third SUV of a three car entourage heading to the top. These were the first passenger cars we’ve seen driving here all spring and summer.

All Nighter

During my short attempt at a nap, I felt our house moving in the wind. Maybe I was overly sensitive, but I can’t remember that before. I also noticed a substantial (though probably light) aluminum something, overturned on a lawn as I drove in.

Here’s a phrase Stef and I haven’t shared in a long time – “all nighter.”

I am up and at my desk, at work. It’s half past four on Sunday morning. This shouldn’t be. This is when I go to sleep!

This has been scheduled for a while. Matt Scott has the day off and we’re out of subs.

There’s little I could do to prepare As the witching hour drew near, it was obvious I wasn’t going to sleep. I tossed and turned for about half and hour before hopping in the shower and getting dressed.

The roads are quiet when you leave the house around 4:00 AM. It was nearly three miles before I saw the first car.

Dunkin’ Donuts is quiet too. There are actually two I know of that are open all night. I went out of my way to the one I felt was better lit and safer.

We had torrential downpours yesterday and strong winds since the rain left. Mother Nature is having a twig and branch sale – they’re everywhere.

During my short attempt at a nap, I felt our house moving in the wind. Maybe I was overly sensitive, but I can’t remember that before. I also noticed a substantial (though probably light) aluminum something, overturned on a lawn as I drove in.

I suppose it’s reassuring that I can push myself like this. I’m really not in that bad shape… or at least I don’t feel I am.

My bed will be very inviting at 10:30 AM

It Snowed Last Night

It was snowing before I went to bed. I could see two or three inches of what looked like wet snow sitting in our driveway. There were big flakes coming down. Wet snow has big flakes.

By the time I woke up, it was over. I stirred a little when Frank ran the plow through our driveway, but managed to get back to sleep.

School kids love the weatherman on days like this. After (for most of them) a week off, vacation gets extended another day.

My driveway is black. Our little street is black. The rest of the visual world is white. This being wet snow, that includes snow ‘clumps’ clinging to trees.

It will be a pain in the ass to get to work today. Tonight, on my way home, it will be more of a pain, because I’ll have to be on the lookout for black ice.

That being said, it’s very pretty outside. In a winter of few storms, I’m willing to look at this one as Mother Nature’s art.

Mother Nature, you’ve been warned.


The Depths of Winter

As we moved through December, I thought, mistakenly as it turned out, this might be a gentle winter. There’s no need to go back and check the stats, because this is a feel thing. It didn’t feel as cold or as wintry as I perceive December should.

In weather, perception is reality.

Then we moved to January. Mother Nature has a way of equalizing things – quickly. What had been docile became ferocious.

So far, it has snowed on 9 days this month… better than 1/3 the month. That’s not to say it snowed a lot on all those days. It just snowed.

This weekend the threat of snow was enough to get blizzard warnings posted. The weather didn’t get that bad, but we were close. Today it snowed again. Not a lot. Just enough to whiten the ground, cancel school and add insult to injury.

I have had enough of winter. That’s the bad news.

Here’s the good news. Today marks the traditional coldest day of the year!

Today’s average&#185 high temperature is 36&#186. Tomorrow’s is 37&#186!

Hey, it might not mean much to you, but for me, this is the light at the end of the tunnel.

I’ve already noticed the Sun higher in the sky changing the color temperature we see outside. The days are getting longer too.

Sure, there will be more snow days – more winter weather to deal with. I will still kvetch. Kvetching is in my nature. But, in the back of my mind, I’ll remember we’re climbing out of our climatological hole.

&#185 -People will often call this the ‘normal’ temperature. There’s no such animal. Nothing in weather is normal. It is a long term average.