That's Gneiss! #62 ~ A flash and a boom!
Let’s talk about the weather, shall we? That sounds so cliché, but it is something that affects us every day. That, and I’ve been fighting a headache all day and it’s about all I’m good for at this point.
For the last couple of days the forecasters had been talking up the windstorm that was headed our way, warning of 60 mph gusts. Late yesterday I saw a refined forecast that said the wind would change from the south to the west between 3-4 am, and that’s when the big gusts would arrive. For once, they were right on it! Just after 3 am a giant gust woke me up. There was a bright flash followed almost immediately by a loud crashing boom of thunder. And another, then another, then another.
The dog slept right through it all. I kept waiting for him to start barking, but nope. I stayed in the shelter of my bed and listened to the wind howl for a bit after the lightning storm passed by. It was very exciting, as we rarely get electrical storms here.
When checking my weather station info this morning, I saw that the temperature almost immediately dropped five degrees when the storm hit. So cool to see it recorded!
Speaking of the weather station, people have been asking about the temperature records I kept last year. If you’ve been with me for a while, you’ll know that just for the heck of it I decided to keep a visual record of the temperature in my notebook - I saw people posting about making temperature blankets, but I was not up to that.
I created my own color key. Never mind the tape mess - I was so excited when I first did it up that I wasn’t paying attention to my ranges and doubled up temperatures. Ooops! I started keeping track of the high and low temperatures recorded each day at Whidbey NAS (KNUW), which is the “official” station for Oak Harbor.
Here at last is the full year mosaic! So much smaller and easier to manage than a gigantic blanket.
You’ll notice that the hottest day recorded there was August 10th, and that it fell between 80-84 degrees. I’ve always been annoyed that the temperature at our house clearly different than at the KNUW station, which is miles away and near the water. Especially in the summer, it gets much warmer here in town.
As you know, I decided to remedy the situation by purchasing my own weather station and recording my own data. MY DATA. MINE.
My station was up and running right around the end of the warmest weather streak, but you’ll notice that there’s a distinct difference. We are usually either several degrees warmer, or several degrees colder. We are also subject to wi-fi access, and discovered that turning it off while camping means no data. Oh well. The second gap was when our router died.
I am of course carrying on this year, but doing things a bit differently. This time I’m running the two stations side by side, so it’s easier to see when there’s a difference. It will also be easy to switch over when we move and I get set up at our new place. I adjusted colors and extended the color key a few degrees in each direction as well. You never know…
You do realize this is all just an excuse to use my beloved colored pencils every day, right?
One last weather thing before moving on. I found out about a site called Ventusky. Not only is it beautifully stunning, but you can watch wind patterns in action - past, current, and future forecast. This is the best thing since sliced bread! Lots of different layers to play with - be sure to check out the waves layer.
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We are making progress towards moving! On Tuesday our real estate agent is coming over to do a walk-through and tell us what we need to do to get our house on the market. Very exciting!
I’m also making a dent in the packing. Every little bit I can do now helps. I’ve already taken quite a bit to the thrift store, and another batch is building up.
Look at those nicely packed boxes!
I suppose we’d better find a place to live!
My head is still killing me, so it’s time for me to go now. See you next week!
~Anne
Tidbits
Make custom grid paper!
Hand Drawn Map Association - no longer active, but they’ve got an extensive archive available for perusal.
Avoiding this new restaurant in town! Reason we’re moving #45,921 - the poor rating was totally predictable, but the reviews… yikes!
Reading: I’m listening to Me Talk Pretty One Day in the car. I need all the funny I can get these days!
Recently eaten: we haven’t really done anything too stunning lately. Settling into the winter meals - meat pies, meat, and more meat.
Making: last night I carved a fish, taken from a line drawing in a book about marine life. I’ll be making great use of that book for future stamps.
Videos of the Week
I was a bit stumped for what to share today, them Stump popped up with this song here at home. Charlton Heston put his vest on…
And one can never just have one Stump song - this one is about American tourists!
Question of the Week
Just hit reply to send your answer, and I’ll share it next week. Always anonymous!
Michael mentioned something called Cincinnati Chili the other day (no thanks). Are there any regional dishes where you’re from that others might find unappetizing?
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I must not think too much of New Year’s resolutions, because I can’t remember ever making one.
Big on Resolutions but they don’t mean squat if you are not into following through. If you aren’t mentally prepared BEFORE the 1st, don’t bother. But! If you are prepared to try your hardest, don’t beat yourself up for missing a day or what have you. Keep the goal in mind and just follow through... no matter how sloppy the show is, the finale is all that counts!
Surprising no one who knows me, I'm not for resolutions made for the new year. I am big on deciding on (okay, resolving) to do something at other less arbitrary-seeming times, and I don't judge the resolution-makers as I am okay with people trying to do better.
Although--the last time I was a member of a gym, I learned to avoid the place from January-late February. After March began it got much quieter!
Thoughts on New Year's resolutions? People have them or make them. I tend not to. I'm more "in the moment" type of a guy. If something needs doing, I do it. I don't need January First to demarcate for me. But, it does make a nice dividing line. I've tried resolutions before.
I don’t believe in resolutions, just revolutions, haha!
Current Temperature: 41 F (5 C)
Current Humidity: 92%
Wind Gusts: 16 mph
Precipitation: 0.12 in
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