“it was a rainy night. it was the myth of a rainy night.”
― j
― j
oh, how i love rainy nights.
—
The University of Michigan Bentley Library
a rainy night on campus. 1909
Photo credit: Daines & Nickels (Ann Arbor, Mich.)
—
Apr23
Category Archives: weather
Mar1
undecided.
march arrives and mother nature sits undecided
—
“the seasons change their manner,
as the year had found some months asleep and leapt them over.”
-william shakespeare
—
ann arbor, mi, usa – march 2023 – mlive photo credit
Feb23
thunder ice.
*the thunder ice cometh.
—
“thou art all ice. thy kindness freezes.”
-william shakespeare
—
*Yes, Thunder Ice is a real thing.
Thundersnow is so last year.
This week in the U.S. there have been a few reports of “thunder ice” or “thunder-freezing rain.” It’s basically a thunderstorm during freezing rain or sleet.
“It’s not something we see very often, but it does happen from time to time and that’s what we experienced across the country,” said Chris Bowman, a National Weather Service meteorologist. “It’s fairly unusual,” he said. “You get pretty heavy rainfall rates and obviously with temperatures below freezing it happens.”
How does all of this happen? Convection — upward motion of air — helps produce thunderstorms. But it’s fairly rare to have convection within a winter storm. Thunder and lightning are much more common in warm-season thunderstorms. When there’s strong enough convection, along with plenty of moisture available, a winter storm can produce thundersnow. And when there’s a layer of warm air above a colder surface layer, freezing rain and sleet falls while the thunder is booming – thunder ice.
Dec7
hail, yes.
my sweet cherry blossom spring doormat
has met the sour almost winter hail.
—
“he ran away from the rain and was caught in a hailstorm.”
turkish proverb
Apr22
on earth day.
when beautiful seasons join hands
early morning, late april, michigan, usa, earth
—
“the poetry of earth is never dead.”
-john keats, from ‘on the grasshopper and cricket.’
Jan31
unbroken unity.
nothing like the feel of
walking on a lake of solid ice
remembering how it felt
swimming in its warm water
pure magic
“in the arctic, the inuit say water and land are the same;
they’re an unbroken unity.
in the winter, you travel on the ice because it’s the linkage and the easiest way,
and in the summer, you move around on the water.”
*-john ralston saul
—
*John Ralston Saul (born 1947) is a Canadian writer, political philosopher, and public intellectual. His work is known for being thought-provoking and ahead of its time, leading him to be called a “prophet” by Time and to be included in Utne Reader’s list of the world’s leading thinkers and visionaries.
May22
high tide.
after
a lot, a lot, a lot
of rain
the river rose high
up and over
paths washed out
nice to intersect
where the land met the water
with this very happy dad
following his wife and son
in kayaks
making their way
through what was very recently
a grassy playground
on island park
paddling through to the river
“ever think you’d find yourself paddling here?”
“no, but i’m so, so happy that i am!”
—
“celebrate the success of others. high tide floats all ships.”
-susan elizabeth phillips
Dec22
the heat is on.
(similar to a typical group I saw running into target today)
just a few days to go before christmas
it’s sunny and almost 50 degrees
in the lower peninsula of michigan
out come
the shorts, the sandals, the sunglasses, the smiles
the coats stay behind
close your eyes
feels almost like summer
we are a hardy lot.
—
“heat is heat.”
Mar15
find the safe spot.
after enjoying a day that finally hit a balmy 60 degrees (above zero!)
when home and relaxing at last
the tornado sirens started blasting
tv news was covering the local map live
updating the movement of the storm minute by minute
texts from the sheriffs buzzed saying to take cover.
because i live in an old cottage with no basement to be found
i went to my safe room (aka the bathroom) to hang out for a while
luckily, my natural survival instincts kicked in
and i took the following items with me to ride out the weather:
phone, laptop. chargers, flashlight, book, hot tea,
and for some unexplained reason –
an uncooked spaghetti squash.
i then decided that i might as well just take a lavender bath
enjoy my book and tea
and let the chips/cottage fall as they may
no worries.
balance was quickly restored
when the weather soon passed us by
and best of all
my spaghetti squash was still intact.
—
“there is a safe spot within every tornado. my job is to find it.”
-david copperfield
—
image credit: lush uk
Mar8
hint.
“Hint of spring showing up in upcoming weather pattern”
above is quote from our online paper
at this point in the year
i was really hoping for something more than just a hint.
seems like a burlesque version of a weather forecast to me
all optimistic style and not much substance.
after giving examples and explaining their reasons,
the article wrapped up with:
“This isn’t a permanent pattern change to feeling like spring. After the weekend we have temperatures dropping back to feeling like winter. If you add 10 to 20 degrees on, it won’t be too cold. It might remind you of spring. Time is on your side if you need spring. Just keep hanging in there.”
—
“one can never produce anything as terrible and impressive
as one can awesomely hint about.”
h. p. lovecraft
—
credits: m. torregrossa, mlive
I didn't have my glasses on.... 