Category Archives: Weather +Climate

Colorado, The Move, Weather +Climate

Stuck

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Winter                                                                 Settling Moon

The opportunity for learning grows as the day goes on. The second load in the U-Haul encountered a ditch in front of our house. Stuck. Snow has begun to fall, gentle snow-globe snow. That means the county snowplows, very diligent have started up again. The sheriff has come.

Little is in the house as yet; the dogs have been crated since 11:30 or so. Richard, the driver, has a plane to catch for West Palm Beach tomorrow, holiday with his family. He intends to finish tonight and has called for extra workers.

Serenity to accept the things you cannot change. Repeat. And, repeat.

Not much we can do but watch this min-drama unfold. The movers do not work much longer, I can tell, and who could blame them? The thing I could do, I did. I suggested they come back tomorrow, but Richard has his plane.

As I said, lots of opportunity for growth. Wisdom to know the difference. Amen.

Great Work, Weather +Climate, Woolly Mammoths

Will Steger

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Samain                                                                 Closing Moon

Woollies met tonight at the only house owned by Warren and Sheryl in Roseville. They’ve been moved in for about a month and a half. Bill, Frank, Warren, Mark, Scott, Stefan and myself met with Will Steger. Tom is in Kansas City and Charlie H. decided he was unable to be in the same space as Will. Charlie H’s loss.

Will’s story is an interesting one. He had, from a young age, a clear vision. He wanted to live in the wilderness where there was no road. And become self sufficient. He achieved that goal by buying a piece of property two lakes away from the nearest road outside Ely, Minnesota.

Continuing what he described as a vocation for teaching through many venues, he almost quit exploration until the internet allowed him to connect school children with his journeys.

He described great enthusiasm for and confidence in the young generation, folks in their twenties. “They want purpose and are willing to work with their hands. They have not shut out the older generation like we did when we were young.” Will’s 70 this year.

His foundation, the Will Steger Foundation, focuses on educating kids. The Steger Center is an ambitious plan to open a topflight center for leadership education, in a building designed by Steger during his 222 day journey across Antarctica the long way.

The building he designed is under construction, getting built by interns who work with master stonemasons, tile-workers, wood workers in a master/apprentice relationship and volunteers who come up for weekends during the growing season.

He has a clarity of personal vision that is rare and the humility to share that vision with others. An inspirational guy, working at 70 toward a dream that he knows will outlive him.

 

Colorado, Health, The Move, Weather +Climate

Minnesota!

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Samain                                                                               Closing Moon

And the award for first roads driven while snowing goes to… Minnesota! Colorado, at least Conifer, is still blessedly shy of snow which means the fence posts will get in. It won’t last. Conifer gets 90″ of snow compared to Andover’s 45. More snow falls there, but the sun, closer by 8,800 feet, also melts the snow faster and the colds don’t get as intense, at least on south facing surfaces like our driveway. The result is more snow, but less snow cover.

The roads on my way to the eye doc this morning were icy, but plowed. Folks drove sensibly for the most part though there were the occasional frozen minds talking on the phone or even texting. A few also followed too closely for dry pavement. The laws of physics will not be repealed, no matter how confident a driver you are.

Not bad for the first storm, really.

At the front desk, on the way out, I signed a release for my medical records so they can be transferred electronically to the next ophthalmologist  The same will happen when I visit Dr. Massie in a couple of weeks. This is much more convenient and better for me as a patient, too. Thank you, difference engine.

 

 

Weather +Climate

Next Assignment: Shadow Mountain

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Samain                                                                                 Closing Moon

Vantage proFor the first time in several years, I no longer have a weather station outside reporting on the weather. I brought it in Saturday to get ready for our move. Its control panel sits over my computer and I look at it several times a day to check its data. After I brought it in, I thought, well, no more information from the weather station. It surprised me then, yesterday, when I glanced up at it, out of habit, and saw 64 degrees, 47% humidity. Oh, it was sending me the temperature and humidity in our kitchen, where it now sits on the table.

The weather station’s next assignment will find it reporting from Shadow Mountain.

Weather +Climate

And the North Wind Doth Blow (actually the Northwest Wind)

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Samain                                                                         Closing Moon

We’ve seen storms over-hyped before, but this one feels pretty solid. Take this assessment from Paul Huttner, author of MPR’s Updraft blog: “It’s tempting to wiggle and obfuscate in winter snows, but I’m paid to make a call. Right now 8″ to 16″ is my forecast snowfall range for the metro, with heaviest totals favoring the north metro.”

And here’s the Winter Storm Warning from NOAA:

“A POTENT STORM SYSTEM WILL BRING SIGNIFICANT SNOWFALL TO MUCH OF
CENTRAL MINNESOTA AND WEST CENTRAL WISCONSIN. OVER 6 INCHES OF
SNOW WILL FALL ALONG AND NORTH OF A LINE FROM CANBY TO GLENCOE TO
HASTINGS IN MN…INCLUDING THE TWIN CITIES METRO…THROUGH EAU
CLAIRE WI. THE HEAVIEST SNOW WILL FALL ALONG A LINE FROM MADISON
TO LITCHFIELD TO ANOKA IN MN THROUGH RICE LAKE WI…WHERE 12 TO 18
INCHES ARE POSSIBLE…ESPECIALLY IN WESTERN WI.” (emphasis mine)

And, finally, the National Weather Service graphic:

Snow predictions 11.9.2014.png-large

Great Wheel, The Move, Weather +Climate

Falling

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Fall                                                                                          Falling Leaves Moon

IMAG0683And so the leaves turn color and begin to fall. What was first a few golden river birch leaves has now become russet Amur maples, reddening oaks, the fiery leaves of the euonymus now waving against the steady greens of the spruce and the pines, waving and loosening, taking to flight, filling the blue sky with spirals of flames and sunsets. The Ojibway named this moon well.

Met with friend Mark Odegard this morning. Talking about turning 70, sailing out beyond middle age. He said he’d disregarded recent birthdays, but 70. Well. Though it’s still 2 and a half years away for me, I see it as a trailhead birthday. From 70 that long final walk begins.

Mark’s helping us put together a booklet of pictures for folks who look at the property, a take-away to go with the wild grape jam and/or jar of honey from Artemis Hives. It’s so hard to see our property without spending a year, watching the seasons come and go, experiencing the raucous symphony as perennial flowers rise, bloom and die back, vegetable push up and mature, are harvested. The orchard blooms, then fruits. The bees buzz around working throughout the growing season. In fall the firepit becomes a central spot with bonfires and smoke. This is a four-season place.

 

Family, Garden, Our Land and Home, Weather +Climate

A Family Effort

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Fall                                                                                Falling Leaves Moon

IMAG0651Now all but the leeks and egg plants and peppers are done. The egg plants and peppers are trying to get one egg plant (in the case of the egg plant) and a few peppers (in the instance of the peppers) finished before the killing frost. They might make it, maybe not. The leeks I decided to leave in until the day of the chicken leek pie baking, probably Thursday.

Anne and Kate worked hard all day, trimming up the perennial beds and finally weeding the vegetable beds. I can throw down the broadcast tomorrow.

In the mid-40’s all day the weather was perfect. My gardens would look wonderful if vegetables grew well in the 40’s and 50’s. Working outside in those temperatures energizes me. Even though I’m tired now, I feel good about the day. If I’d worked the same length of time in even the mid-70’s with high humidity, I’d not gotten half as much done. I’m a northern guy.

Kate and I look forward to telling our new Colorado neighbors that we came to the Rockies for the milder winters.

Weather +Climate

Pluviophile

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Fall                                                                           Falling Leaves Moon

Pluviophile. Apparently a neologism first appearing on Facebook. Language refuses to stay within its banks, just ask those folks who police French. I saw the word for the first time today in a newspaper headline.

There was an article the other day about scientists who researched Yelp restaurant reviews (I know, scientists and Yelp don’t seem to belong in the same sentence.) and discovered they could be used to predict the weather. Or, at least to describe the weather on the day the reviewer ate in the restaurant. Turns out that over 70% of positive reviews came during sunny days and a similar percentage the other way on rainy, gloomy days.

A pluviophile, a person who finds peace and contentment in a rainy day, might skew these statistics a bit. It describes me. Rainy days find me energized and ready to go. Ditto cloudy, cold, stormy. That’s not to say that sunshine sets upsets me. It doesn’t. I just have a polyphilia for weather.

Here’s another one I discovered, too.

Faith and Spirituality, Great Wheel, Myth and Story, Reimagine. Reconstruct. Reenchant., Weather +Climate

A Cold Rain Must Fall

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Fall                                                                                  Falling Leaves Moon

A cold rain must fall. When temperatures drop and a soaking rain comes and leaves lie bloodied in the street, the Great Wheel has advanced another turn, this time toward the dark. That fireplace reasserts itself as the center of a room and evenings seem made for candles and lace.

This is my time of year and it has barely begun, the cold rain putting a seal on its arrival. I’m ready for it.

The cold rains are Demeter’s tears for her daughter Persephone, gone now to rule for half the year in Hades. This is a medieval painting showing Persephone and Hades on their thrones.