Is It Really Here?

It's 5:28 am.

Do you know where your spring is?

No- don't look out the window. It might not be there and I wouldn't want you to be too discouraged.

Don't look at the weather forecast. After all to meteorologists spring started before the recent blizzards.

Close your eyes, picture daffodils and tulips; that fresh green of young plants, and play the video.

Now go back to sleep until April.

It's Only Snow- Can We Live With That?

Mayo Brothers at Mayo Clinic before the storm

I live in Minnesota.
It gets cold in Minnesota.
It snows in Minnesota.

Can we live with that?

Sure, but first we have to freak out and describe the first snow of the season as something we think we have never seen before.

Turn on the news and we see

• the requisite stand-up with the MNDOT supervisor describing the newsworthy event of plowing the snow on the local highways
• the requisite stand-up along that local highway with car lights going behind the reporter (it is evening- and dark.)
• the social media posts that call this a "snowpocalypse" even though it is only forecast to be 6" - 10".

 The hype continues the next day when the snow failed to measure up to the upper end but was still enough to keep the first ten minutes of the newscasts filled with

• the requisite stand-up with along the local highway with car lights moving faster today
• the offbeat story of a milk-hauling truck sliding off a road
• the requisite story of front-end loaders plowing and gathering the snow from the streets of a small town
• the requisite story of the children sledding.

Then, with all this behind us, reminding us of how bad this storm was (but no serious injuries in the police report and only 8" of the white stuff), we get pictures of tornado damage and flooding in other parts of the country where people lost everything. Some even their lives.

Was it really all that bad here? No! I am moved to gratitude for the simple snowstorm we had. It was not any where near a snowpocalypse. I have lived through those on the east coast when winter Nor'easters dump a lot more than 8". But we survived even that!

In the lingo of news this story was NOT a man bites dog story. Let's keep our calm and our sense of perspective.

It was only snow.

What a Difference A (Few) Days Make

May 2, 2013 - Rochester, MN Snow and 33 degrees F

May 2, 2015 - Rochester, MN Sunny and 77 degrees F

Hearing the Changes

I heard the surf shift the other afternoon. I was sitting on the balcony overlooking the beach. I was meditating, practicing some mindfulness, with the surf as the background mantra. The surf had been loud and heavy for the past 24 hours. Even now it was loud, still a roar, the water constantly flowing like a perpetual motion machine. The wind had been a little calmer most of the afternoon. I was thinking how complete silence is not necessary for meditation when the power of moving water is behind us.

Suddenly I became aware that it was quieter; the breakers weren’t sounding as loud or as constant; the roar was more distant, a murmur. My first thought was that I had just gotten used to the sound and I’m focusing elsewhere, though still mindful. Or maybe I was heading into the near sleep neverland.

My wife sneezed and it was at it’s normal sound level. I pondered for a brief second and I realized what was happening. I had just heard the surf calm down. I had heard a transition from one state to another. I had heard the color of the sound of the surf change.

I opened my eyes and looked out at the water. The waves had gotten smaller, the breakers hardly making any noise. It had happened within minutes. As I wrote my thoughts down ten or so minutes later the sound continued to decrease. I checked the beach warning flag and it remained calm. I thought maybe I heard a wind shift but that isn’t what occurred. Or was it?

Over the past few weeks I have been paying a little more attention to the water, wind and weather. I have been seeing how winds from one direction can turn the Gulf into a sheet of glass as it pushes the waves back out to deeper water. Or, like the previous 48 hours, a strong south to southeast wind picks up water and moves it for miles, if not hundreds of miles before crashing ashore. It opened me up to being more aware when today I could hear the changes.

That kind of mindfulness is important to life, I realize. It can mean being aware of a friend’s feelings, the emotion in a situation, the right time to keep quiet. It can help us know when and where we may be getting a direction from a Higher Power. Jazz musicians train to hear chord and key changes so they can be better improvisers.

On the balcony the other day I experienced the wonder of being aware- mindful- of changes. By the time I went inside, it was still calm. There is a slight breeze and it is still from the south. A front will be moving in overnight and that no doubt played into the change I heard. The waves remained but were not as commanding as they had been with the flag barely moving and the palms just rustling silently.

An amazing world we live in.

A Few Quick Observations

Observation # 1:
For most of the first 10 months of 2014 economists, news reports, and "pundits" of all stripes in general, were less than enthusiastic about the US economy. "Yes," they would comment, "things are okay, but...." They would then enumerate why things were uncertain and you really shouldn't count on the economy rebounding. This in spite of Wall Street bouncing higher, lower gas prices and lower unemployment.

Then, with about 6 weeks left in the year every pundit, economist and report (other than perhaps on Fox News) began to change their tune. By this week you would think that a miracle had suddenly occurred. The economy was booming. "Happy days are here again!!"

Not much has really changed. Except the election was over and all the news that might have put a different spin on the economy is safe to report. Other than pointing this out, and knowing that correlation is not necessarily causation, I will let you think the implications through for yourself.

Observation #2:
Why is it always news in the first few days of the year that people are making resolutions they aren't going to keep? And why is it always news that this has to do with exercise and losing weight?

Observation #2b:
Why is it always a surprise on the news when it gets cold in Minnesota in January?

It's That Time - Again

Great River Bluffs State Park, MN, 10/16/14

The National Weather Service has a Winter Storm Watch posted for us from Monday to Tuesday morning. Maybe 4 - 7 inches. It isn't even the Ides of November yet.

Therefore it is time for my mostly annual posting of a wooly bear caterpillar from this year. Those old farmer's predictions from wooly bears would say that this means the beginning and end of winter will be harsh and the middle not as bad. Well, at least the first part is about to maybe look bad.

But then again,

• one of my  general weather memes is that when they predict the big ones- they often don't happen and
• I seem to remember that almost every year the wooly bear caterpillars look like this one and
• we can't do much about it anyway.

Endnote: For no particular reason of note, this is post # 5,600.
Aren't you impressed?

What a Difference a Year Makes

Same tree- different year. May 2, 2013 v. May 2, 2014

Last year

This year

Fairness is Uncertain

That's how I feel today, anyway. The ultimate fairness is that we all are treated equally at random by the things that happen around us and to us.

Huh?

Simply put, I spent a month- four weeks- in the (relative) warmth of Alabama. Loved it. Great weather most of the time, a few days in New Orleans where it was in the 70s. Rode 100 miles on my Trusty Trek bike.

January 26

So, I plan this trip so when I return to the frozen north-land, I can at least have the expectation that it will be 30 days warmer than when I left.

Wrong!

The high temp for the day we left was +9 degrees F. The high temp for Sunday when we returned 4 weeks later was -3 degrees F. Meteorological spring started and the temp is no better. The mean (average normal) high for Sunday should have been 31! On top if it, that -3 high temperature was a record. There has never been a day in March since records were started in 1886 when the high temp was below zero. NEVER BEFORE this year.

March 2

And the snow. My goodness, the snow and ice is everywhere. Many of the streets are ice-covered! You'd think I lived in Minnesota.

Oh.

That's right. I do.

Tired of the Weather...

...so I found a quote from the hippie-dippy weatherman to put it all in perspective:

Weather forecast for tonight: dark.
--George Carlin

Just think- what would we do for conversation if there wasn't anything interesting in the weather?

Uff Da!

No other way to describe this winter.

An Up Nort' exclamation like Uff Da! says it all. Today is the 44th day with below freezing temps of the last 50! That isn't all that bad, of course. This IS Minnesota, after all and our normal high temps this time of year are below freezing.

But it's those below zero Fahrenheit temps that are beginning to get old- very old. Today is the 17th day since December 4 with below zero temps.

There are no days above freezing forecast for the rest of the month. We have at least 4 more days this month forecast to have below zero readings.

We also keep cycling up and down with these Alberta Clippers sweeping through with wind and light snow that is blowing like a banshee at times. We seem to be having almost daily weather headlines, watches, warnings and special statements. Even one of our local TV weather forecasters commented the other day that this is probably the most active weather pattern he has ever seen.

I know it isn't just us in Minnesota. It's been like this all over the country. Our winter/snowbird escape of the Alabama Gulf Coast has had incredibly low temps and wind chills that, for the location, rival ours in depth of misery and discomfort when you aren't used to it- mid-20s on the Gulf coast is awful.

So for the next week I have posted a new feature picture over there on the right. May it remind us that this too shall pass.

Or so they tell me.

What is There to Say?

About the time this post is published we will probably be above 0 degrees F. for the first time in about 80 hours. It sure has made the news, broken records, closed schools, and given us Minnesotans something more to talk about.

Cold? Eh?

Ya betcha'

Stay warm.

Yes, there were those who brought out the old trope

When I was young...

and proceed to tell us about the two-way uphill climb, at least 5 miles long, in shoulder-deep snow with cold enough to freeze...

...well you know the story.

Don't believe it. It didn't happen. These are called record colds because, simply, they have never happened before. One of our local TV weather forecasters said that the longest streak below zero was 7 days

• and it was in 1912... 102 years ago.

I know, you remember, like I do, those bitter cold mornings walking to school. I was a school crossing guard the winter of 1959-60 when I was in 6th grade. I swear it was bitterly cold. Frigid.

So, just to prove it I searched for weather records online and found out that, well, it was warmer than I remember it. For example, in January and February the lowest temp was 14 degrees F. on Feb.14. There were three days in the beginning of March when there were single digit lows, but the high temps got almost to freezing.

That may be why it seemed to be so cold. The temps were never all that cold (compared to what we have just been going through.) Many days actually had high temps above freezing, not something that happens around here this time of year. We never got accustomed to the lower temperatures, because they didn't stay around all that long.

Isn't it a shame that our memories are not nearly as perfect as we like to think they are. In fact they are quite subjective. Telling the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth- but only as I remember it.

Elizabeth Loftus has a TED talk on the fiction of memory.

It's times like this that I believe her.

A Local News Staple

It happened for the first time this year on Tuesday. With winter weather approaching it was right on schedule. What might it be? Simple:

The local news story stand-up from the Department of Transportation garage with the big snowplow trucks behind them.

Every year there is a regular cycle of these local news stories. You can mark your calendar by them. I'm glad to see the tradition continue.

But I did miss the shots of the piles of salt for the roads.

Maybe next storm.

Changing Seasons in Six Months

Same Tree- Different Days

November 2, 2013

May 2, 2013

May 5, 2013

May 19, 2013

It's Gone

Earlier this year I posted about the wonderful sight of Bald Eagles along the Zumbro River here in NW Rochester. This was one of the pictures I took of the nest and its occupants.

Well, we had some heavy weather a week ago today and by last Saturday the nest was down.

Many have commented about the joy of seeing these magnificent birds right here in our own yard.  I hope they rebuild nearby and stay around.

A Cool Day

Saturday the Rochester Big Band played "Under the Bridge" as part of the Wabasha, MN, SeptOber Fest. A cold front had moved through on Friday and it was downright cool. (Well, yes, we were "cool", but I mean the temperature.)

So I took this picture. Notice the strange lack of people under the bridge. After all, that was in the shade.

We had a good time, though.

No reason. Just Because

“The storm starts, when the drops start dropping
When the drops stop dropping then the storm starts stopping.”
― Dr. Seuss

Annotated Baseball

Game two for the year as the Twins hosted the Seattle Mariners for a Saturday noon game at Target Field. The Mariners should have seemed right at home after all the rain we've been getting. But at game time it was a beauty of a day. The SUN was even out.

So here are some of the pictures with annotations for explanation and thought.

This was an interesting shot. The heavy bats and all the thing-a-ma-jigs that they use in the on-deck circle. Looked like pipes or other instruments of various uses.

But the clouds started to move back by the 4th inning and in the 5th we could feel the shift in the wind. First it changed direction then it got cooler.  Rain. The standard operating principle of weather around here this spring.

A couple of fun shots showed up. The shortstop tripped trying to get the ball and slid forward, over the ball as the batter was safe at second on an error.





But it's those pesky flies- to the outfield- that just seem to drop in for a hit. Nice for the Twins.

As I sat there at one point that wasn't all that exciting I composed these two shots.

They say baseball is played between the lines.

The way they cut the grass seems to prove it.

Then I used Paint Shop Pro to put them together.

Something to Remember This Spring

Yes, I know I am to be positive and look on the optimistic side of things. But we just finished the wettest May on record and the 5th wettest month, EVER, since records have been kept. Overall I would lean toward these wondrous words of of of our great American poets, Langston Hughes:

Let the rain kiss you.
Let the rain beat upon your head with silver liquid drops.
Let the rain sing you a lullaby.
-Langston Hughes

But on the other hand this spring I think I prefer Shel Silverstein:

I opened my eyes
And looked up at the rain,
And it dripped in my head
And flowed into my brain,
And all that I hear as I lie in my bed
Is the slishity-slosh of the rain in my head.

I step very softly,
I walk very slow,
I can't do a handstand--
I might overflow,
So pardon the wild crazy thing I just said--
I'm just not the same since there's rain in my head.
-Shel Silverstein

Wet, Wet, and Then More Wet

We have been setting water-based records all "spring."

February 2013: 10th snowiest - 15.4"
March 2013: 3rd snowiest - 23.5"
April 2013: 2nd wettest - 6.79" of precipitation
May 2013: All-time snowiest - 14.5", All-time wettest - 8.63"
-KTTC Meteorologist Randy Brock

It hasn't quit. We had two sunny days on Thursday and Friday and now, well, it's back to the threat and chance and promise of rain and showers. For days and days with no seeming end until next weekend.

Fortunately I had Friday off for time exchange from last weekend. I enjoyed the day. Let's see:

• I sat outside and did some reading.
• I picked up my bike from its spring tune-up.
• I bought a new Weber gas grill.
• I sat outside and waited for the grill to be delivered.
• I got my bike ready to ride.
• I went for a 10 mile bike ride!!!!
• I got home and started heating up the grill for my first cook-out of the year.
• I mumbled when it started to sprinkle as I was about ready to start cooking.
• I finished cooking before it really started to rain.
• Enjoyed supper.

A lot of hours outside.

 

Then the rain came in.

One Last Reflection - I Hope

All that snow

          Now rapidly gone back;

          Returned to where it came from.

H₂0 in a cycle of

          Drought and flood.

          Which, of course,

          Gives us - on average -

Just right.