Monthly Archives: February 2010

This is exactly how I feel most of the time. I love this comic!!!

Living In A Perfect World

“The truly humble soul must sincerely desire to be despised, derided, persecuted and falsely accused. How else can he better imitate Jesus Christ? Oh! how wise he will one day be acknowledged who on earth was happy to be regarded as unworthy of the approval and even the good opinion of others!”
~St. Teresa of Avila~

I would say the weather report sounds like a broken record, but that would really be dating myself, wouldn’t it? I don’t think my youngest child even knows what a “record” is, much less what the term “broken record” means! Anyway.  This winter has been amazing.  We’ve lived in North Carolina for fifteen years, and have never seen anything like this!  There has been snow on the ground for two months!  I am starting to entertain fantasies about jumping in my car and driving down to Miami in search of warmth, but it is such a long drive, and my Spanish still needs some work. . .

I have been working on my genealogy today, and that has been fairly rewarding.  In particular I have been trying to learn more about the Estes branch of my family.  We are descended from David Shipton Estes (1776 – 1861).  I have some very old photographs from my great-aunt Bobbie’s “Adams Album”, that are simply labeled “Estes Family Members”, but nobody knows who they are.  So I am hoping to find names for the faces.  I will post them here, because who knows?  Stranger things have happened!  They are scanned from the original tintypes.  If anyone researching Adams, Estes/Eastes or even Freeman families sees these and recognizes them, please let me know who they are!!

I have heard several folks say that all of this snow and ice is from El Nino, and try to convince me that “Global Warming” is still very real.  While El Nino does affect weather to some degree, it is not as reliable a predictor as most of us think.  There are simply far too many variables at play, and weather is a very cagey thing!

Stu Ostro, Senior Meteorologist at the Weather Channel has written some great articles about El Nino.  The following excerpt is from “Oh no, it’s El Nino!” which he published on September 14, 2006:

WHAT EL NINO IS

-A climate phenomenon that influences weather patterns. It specifically refers to above-average sea surface temperatures (SSTs) in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean (such as those highlighted in the recent map above).

-The opposite of El Nino (below-average SSTs in that portion of the Pacific) is known as La Nina. When SSTs are near average, that is called the “neutral phase.”

-El Nino and La Nina are related to both SST changes and the natural ebb and flow of trade winds across the tropical Pacific. The associated fluctuation in atmospheric pressure is known as the Southern Oscillation. The whole oceanic/atmospheric process is known as ENSO (El Nino/Southern Oscillation).

WHAT EL NINO IS NOT

-A storm. A flood. A drought. A hurricane. A weather event or pattern. (At times when its influence is particularly strong, such as when a very active southern jet stream and storm track are present during winter, that is sometimes referred to as an “El Nino pattern,” El Nino being a descriptor of the related, predominant weather pattern. However El Nino itself is not a weather pattern per se.)

-Abnormal or bizarre. Both El Nino and La Nina are a natural part of our world, and have likely been so for many thousands of years.

-The sole cause of individual weather events or the sole influence upon seasonal weather patterns. (The water/land/atmosphere/sun climate “system” is very complex.)

-Something that necessarily increases the amount of weather and climate calamities. There are certain locations that do typically experience specific kinds of impacts such as drought or flooding, but plenty of extremes and disasters of all kinds occur around the world when El Nino is not present. El Nino just tends to shift them around.

WHAT EL NINO DOES

-El Nino has a direct effect upon the atmosphere over the tropical Pacific.

-It has an indirect influence upon weather patterns in other parts of the world, including in and near the United States. The strongest influence in North America is during the “cold season,” i.e. from late autumn through winter and into early spring.

-The degree of this influence at any given time and place depends in part on El Nino’s intensity, which can vary, and on other weather and climate factors.

One of my favorite ways to “escape”, especially in the dead of winter, is to play with my blog.  So, after spending a couple of days searching for cool new Wordpress Themes, I finally found one that I actually like.  Most of the time Wordpress themes are too clinical for me.  Occasionally they are too teeny-bopper.  It’s rare for me to find one that I think conveys the mood I’m looking for in my blog.  But, this one caught my eye, and I think it will do for now.  For a while!  If you like it, would you please leave me a comment and let me know?

Meanwhile, in other news:  it’s supposed to snow again tonight, but only an inch or so.  We used to get so excited about the possibility of an inch or so of snow.  Now, not so much.  I am so looking forward to warm weather!

We had a major snow storm in December, which resulted in snow on our back deck until January.  The snow finally melted, just in time for the next major storm to hit last weekend.  We got 11.5″ of snow.  So now, while we are still digging out from that storm, an ice storm has hit us.

The sounds we hear inside the house are disturbing.  Popping. Crackling. Crunching.  But stepping out onto the porch is downright terrifying.  Our yard looks like a war zone, and it sounds like one, too.  Every time a big branch or tree goes down, it snaps and sounds like gunfire.  The dogs are so frightened they won’t come out of the basement.  I don’t blame them.  I just saw a small branch, a stick, really, fall to the ground. After bouncing back and forth off of a few branches, it broke free from the tree and hurled itself to the ground with dizzying speed.  Had there been any living creature where it landed, it would have impaled them.

Our driveway is an obstacle course, but still navigable.  I have some doubts about it staying that way all night.  We have friends who are prepared to bring a chain saw over and dig us out, but not just yet.  It’s too dangerous for any real clean-up to begin.

Across the street, a smallish branch fell onto one of the power lines, causing some pretty serious sparks and smoke for almost an hour.  It seems to have gone out now.  We still have power, and internet, which amazes me.  I am grateful for that.  Especially since USA Network is starting an NCIS marathon at 6:00 tonight.  Hate to miss out on that!!

Anyway, am posting some pictures.  Since Gaylon got me that wonderful new Canon EOS Rebel Xsi camera for Christmas, I absolutely must document everything that happens around here!  And, while I’m thinking about it:  special thanks to Kyle P. for changing the settings on my site so that I could upload larger files!  The pictures from my new camera are really clear and the files are much larger than my old camera.  My site was set to only allow uploads of 2 mg or less.  Kyle set it so I can upload pretty much any size file now. Yay!

They are calling for yet another winter storm this weekend.  I think there has been one week since December 18th that we have not had several inches of snow on our back deck.  We had to pay to have the driveway scraped this past weekend (and it was worth every single penny!!).  And now, they are calling for more snow.  Alex is supposed to go snow skiing this weekend with Father Winslow and all of the altar servers from St. John’s. They are going to Sugar Mountain.  Now, it’s looking like that may bet cancelled.  Oh, man, he is going to be miserable to live with if he doesn’t get to go snow skiing. And Faith has Achievement Night for 4-H tomorrow evening, too.  Arrgghh.

I remember as a child fantasizing about snow like this.  As a teenager and young adult I always hoped for snow like this, because it meant the ski slopes would be amazing!  But now, I really can’t find a good reason for it.  It’s cold, it keeps us homebound, and when it finally does melt, it is really muddy!

Snow On Our Back Deck

I’ve made a lot of cracks about Global Warming, and how I think it’s ridiculous.  At this point, I think I might actually clock anyone who tries to tell me that it’s real.

Oh, and one more thing: they are calling for more snow next week, when I go pick Gaylon up in Charlotte at the airport.  I am really praying that it doesn’t happen.

Seriously? Freezing fog?? I checked the Weather Channel online and they had a “Severe weather report” regarding Freezing Fog?? Good Grief!!!