Category Archives: Weather +Climate

Art and Culture, GeekWorld, Weather +Climate

Out of the House. At Last.

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7  steep fall 30.38  ENE2  windchill 7  Winter

Waning Wolf Moon

Spent a morning at the museum.  The first time I got out of the house since Monday. Thanks to telecommuting I did committee work for the Sierra Club on Monday and Wednesday, research each day.  So this cold snap came and went with my outside experiences limited to snow blowing, shoveling, paper and mail retrieving.  It got cold.  -28 this morning at 8AM.

Starting Monday on the Star-Tribune Weatherblog page you will find me under Twin Cities Metro.  I got a sneak peek at the site today and it looks very professional.  This will be in addition to the Citizen Weather Observer Program webpage and the Davis Weatherlink webpage that take live-feed from my station.  I think I do have some instrument adjustment issues to iron out and come connectivity with the CWOP folks, but otherwise we pump info out into the public datastream every five minutes or less 24/7.  Another techno advantage.

The second graders I had today at the museum were bright, engaged kids.  But.  They recognized George Washington but did not know who he was.  One girl wondered if George Washington was G. W. Bush’s father.  The three African-American kids did not know where Africa was.  I sat with them and tried to get a few facts installed, but I had so little time with them.  I love second graders though, they were so eager.  So willing.  If only the world would not beat up on them, they could overcome this knowledge deficit.

Weather +Climate

Kinetic Energy Verrrry Slllloowww

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-25 falls 30.60  ENE0 wchill -25  winter

Waning Wolf Moon

Cold.  Colder.  Coldest.  -27 when I got up this morning.  Now that’s cold.  Today, for the first time in this cold snap I have to go into the city, another 2nd grade VTS tour.  I also have to get gas.  Don’t look forward to that.  Ouch.  Gotta gas for the snowblower, too.  You never know, it might warm up and snow big time.  Not predicted though.

According to rumor, the Startribune weatherblogs go live on Monday.  I will be among them so click on the Trib weather blogs if you want to see weather reporting from Andover.  My CWOP postings have been sporadic.  I don’t know why.  My data logger keeps my weather website up justs fine, so it’s something in the CWOP servers.  Over the weekend I plan to work on it.

My in box is basically empty.  Now I have to start filling it up again.  I have to write another legislative update on Sunday for Sierra Club folks who follow the political end of the Great Work. I want to get back to writing full time.  He says again.  But this time I mean it.

Great Work, Weather +Climate

Housebound and Loving It.

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-15  rising 30.65 WSW0 wchill -15   Winter

Waning Wolf Moon

My work with the Sierra Club’s political and legislative committee’s have lead me to a group of folks who really understand the political process.  They are focused, goal oriented and work hard.  They write bill language, round up authors and co-authors, supporters from both parties.  The grass roots support gets rallied when needed for a push.  I’m lucky to be in this process.  I’ll learn a lot. (and I thought I knew a lot.)

I now Twitter, blog for the Star-Tribune weatherblogs (if they ever go live.) and write this blog.  Once in a while I get on facebook and myspace.  I’m not a true child of this age though because I have resisted thus far the allure of cell-phone e-mail and internet.  But.  I do have a cell phone.

I’ve not left the house since Monday.  I have been outside to blow the snow, take out the trash and get the mail.  But that’s it.  The really cold stuff should break over the weekend.  I do have two tours on Friday, so I’ll get out into it then.

Great Work, Politics, Weather +Climate

Cold and Tired

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“Do not wait to strike till the iron is hot; but make it hot by striking.” – William Butler Yeats

We can use all the heat we can get here tonight.  We’re 8 degrees cooler than we were last night and it was -22 when I got up.

Just a note to say the Senate committee meeting by TV worked fine, but it wore me out.  2 hours of watching, then an hour doing a summary for Michelle.  Tired tonight.

Great Work, Hydroponics, permaculture, Politics, Weather +Climate

Traveling By Television

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-6  steep fall 30.26  E1  windchill -8  Winter

Waning Wolf Moon

Boy do I feel good.  I recalled that some legislative meetings are webcast, broadcast, or taped.  Turns out the one I need to cover will be on Channel 17 at 3pm or I can watch it live on the web.  God, you gotta love technology.  Normally, I’d head into the capitol anyhow just to get the feel of the place, but the hassle of really cold weather and a long drive, capped with a return trip in rush hour makes the couch a much more sensible option.

I finished the seed database today for all the new seeds.  Tomorrow I’ll enter our left over seeds from last year.  It shows the work ahead in getting transplants ready.  Some plants like the mustard greens and huckleberries will go under the lights in the middle of February.  In two week intervals until May 1st, I’ll be starting different plants inside.

The weather today is what we usually get in the third week of January, really cold.  Paul Douglas, local weather guy, says this air was over Siberia two weeks ago.  And it’s still this cold?  Geez.

Weather +Climate, Writing

The Heart of Winter

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7  falls 30.13  W0 wchill 7  Winter

Full Wolf Moon

The Full Wolf Moon hangs high in the sky, hidden behind cloud cover.  It casts a ring of ice crystals, giving it a gem in a circular setting look.  The moon light suffuses the sky giving a bluish cast to the snow as it filters through the clouds.

Another busy day.  Tomorrow I preach at Groveland.  Preaching may not convey quite what I do.  If you read any of the presentations/sermons on the Liberal Religion page, you’ll get a better sense of what happens.  I love the prep and the writing, the delivery adds a feedback dimension that I find valuable.

The winter sits with its full weight upon the land here.  Snow covers the garden.  The deciduous trees have no leaves.  The air freezes in the nostrils and makes layers necessary.  Growth stopped; but the plant world has not died.  It only waits, gathering strength, making itself ready.

Winter has a somber tone, the weather serious and sometimes unrelenting.  A Minnesota winter can kill you, so you have to pay attention.  That makes it worthwhile.  Like climbing a volcano.

Faith and Spirituality, Weather +Climate, Writing

Beard Experiment Tells Tale

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-3  steep rise 29.99  W0 wchill -3  Winter

Waxing Gibbous Wolf Moon

The wind last night drove our bedroom windown open wider and the chilly night air blew on us early this morning.  We always sleep with the window at least partway open, but this larger portal made even the down comforters inadequate.  So we both woke up about 30 minutes or so earlier than usual.

Kate said last night, “You must be happy with what  you’re doing.”   I said, “Yeah, the political stuff is work I know.  I understand it in some depth.  Besides, a guy needs some validation now and then.”   Later, I asked her why she made that remark, “Oh.  You shaved your beard.  Not so much that fact, but that you were experimenting with it.” I was and I made it so peculiar that the only remaining option was to cut it all off, all the way off.  “When you’re not happy,” she went on, “You’re more controlled.  When you’re happier, you’re looser, more willing to try things.  That’s how I knew.”  Oh.  The clues we leave behind.

Homecomer is now done, but I have to edit it.  That’s today. Seed database underway, but far from done.  Business meeting today, too.

Family, Garden, Great Work, Politics, Weather +Climate

Winter Happy

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7  rises 29.48  WNW2  wchill 5  Winter light snow

Waxing Gibbous Wolf Moon

The seeds for the 2009 vegetable garden sit on my desk beside me in piles according to growth habit:  viny, climbing, bushy, root or leafy.  When I get the chance, they’ll go in my homemade database with pertinent data and places to record germination, first bloom, first fruit and eventual production.  I’ve gardened for years, but never taken this much care.  Why now?  Not sure.

Kate’s off to see the physiatrist in Elk River.  I hope he suggests some things that help her. She’s going to stop by Cottage Quilts on the way home.

I’m off to the cities this morning to count ballots for the ex-com and see Michelle.  Michelle liked my first draft of the legislative updates, so it will go out Sunday evening.   Many more to follow.

A light snow this morning, enough to make the outdoors beautiful and wintry.  This kind of winter makes me happy.

Faith and Spirituality, Great Work, Our Land and Home, Sport, Weather +Climate

An Existential Cry?

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-8  falls 30.32  SW0 wchill-8 Winter

First Quarter of the Wolf Moon

The Great Horned Owl who lives in our woods calls tonight, right now as I write.  Whether he, or she, speaks to a lost love or wayward children I do not know.  On a night this cold it could be the existential cry of the world, proclaiming the season at its depths.  I often imagine this owl whose wingspan extends longer than my body and whose talons can lift a small dog or a young child with ease; I imagine this owl perched on a top limb of our tallest poplar.  The gaze of this fierce predator, the apex predator of our woods, rakes the Wolf Moon, perhaps blinded by the light, but looking just the same.  Because, like us, the moon attracts the eye.

The Vikings lost to the Eagles.  I don’t feel as let down as I have when the Vikings have lost other playoff games.  Not sure why.  Maybe because they did not come into this game a prohibitive favorite, then give it away.  Perhaps because they played with heart and made some young team mistakes.  I don’t know.  But I’ll watch again.  Peculiar, eh?

Writing Homecomer took up the writing juice today.  Little left over for this blog.  I’ll let it sit a day or two, then read it with a red pen in hand. Go back to the computer and revise it.  Then let it be.

Now, back to The Given Day by Dennis Lehane.  If you have not read it, and enjoy period pieces with rich characters and real historical drama as I do, then you’ll find this a treat.