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Posts Tagged ‘weather’

IMG_3705I’ve always refrained from planting flowers until after Mothers’ Day because my mother told me that is what you should do.  This year, that piece of folk wisdom turned out to be wise, indeed, because the overnight temperature on Mothers’ Day dipped below freezing and left a significant layer of frost on the ground and on the boardwalk.  I’m not sure it would have been enough to kill or damage delicate summer flowers, but because I held off on planting I don’t have to worry about it.

Sometimes old sayings are worth crediting.  After our frosty Mothers’ Day experience, I’m now totally resolved not to jump off a cliff just because all of my friends do so.

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IMG_1209The flowering trees in our neighborhood are beautiful, but they are losing their petals with every gentle gust of spring breeze.  Be careful as you walk and talk — you might end up with a mouthful.

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IMG_1181In central Ohio, when spring arrives and the temperature goes up, the motorcycles come out.  Chopper owners take off the tarps, wheel their rigs out of their garages, and let the bikes wind out in the fine spring weather.

Seeing motorcycles is a good sign that it’s going to be a nice day, because most bikers know to check the weather and only ride on days that are certain to be dry.  Once you ride a motorcycle in the rain, getting soaked to the bone and splattered by passing cars, you’ll do just about anything to avoid it.

And speaking of motorcyclists, let’s all be sure to keep an eye out for them, give them plenty of room, and let them share the road without incident.

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IMG_3511When spring finally arrives (and we in central Ohio are keeping our fingers crossed that it’s here to stay) is a feast for the senses — particularly the eyes.  It’s such a pleasure to see flowers, and bright colors on the landscape!

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You only discover a hole in your shoe on a rainy day.

IMG_3506It happened to me this morning, on a bleak day when the rain was pelting down, pitting the wet streets, and water was sluicing down the gutters.  I was struggling with two balky and miserable dogs, their two leashes, a tiny, windblown umbrella, and a bag full of dog poop that needed to be tied off when I sensed an unwelcome flow of moisture into my right heel.  Soon my sock was sodden, and by the time we made the last turn for home my foot was soaked and each step was like pressing down onto a wet sponge.

Curiously, my shoe had a hole in the heel rather than the sole, which is where the failure typically occurs.  How that happened is anybody’s guess.  But the location of the hole, really, makes no difference.  The key point is that a shoe with a hole in it is perfectly serviceable on dry days; it’s only when you need the fully functional shoe most desperately that the defect presents itself.  In that sense, a shoe with a hole in it is like a fair-weather friend.

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Back Yard Bitches

IMG_3490It was a beautiful day in New Albany today — bright and sunny, with the temperature reaching the mid-70s.  The lure of the patio and the back yard was irresistible to me, and to Penny and Kasey as well.  They enjoyed the chance to gambol in the grass and squint into the brightness, and I liked sitting out on the patio, doing some work and feeling the breeze ruffle my hair.

It felt good to get out into the sunshine and expose that white, dry skin to the sunshine.  As for the questionable headline for this posting — well, I like alliteration, and technically the description is accurate.

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This morning Penny, Kasey, and I saw a good example of Anticipatory Attire Syndrome.

IMG_3474It was about 30 degrees, and the sun was still below the horizon.  I was bundled up and wearing winter hat and gloves as we made our way along the Yantis Loop, when suddenly we saw a female jogger trundling past wearing only running shorts and a t-shirt.  Her bare legs looked about the color of a boiled lobster and her face did, too.  She was obviously freezing, and I don’t think the shivers and good bumps were helping her running style.

Her predicament is not uncommon this time of year.  Winters in Columbus tend to be so gray and glum that, with the first hint of spring, some people go all in for the expected change in season.  When the skies are clear but the temperature is still on the south side of 50 you’ll see people out in shorts, acting like it’s high summer.  They are so eager for a little warmth they just can’t help themselves.  Then they catch a cold.

Let’s be smart, people!  Spring is a transitional period, made for sweaters and light jackets.  Hold off on the shorts and t-shirts and flip-flops for a little while longer, will you?

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IMG_3470This afternoon the temperature came close to 60 on a bright, sunny day.  We barely dare think it, much less say it:  but could Spring finally have Sprung?

A would-be angler at the number 5 pond apparently thought so, but his casting hit a snag or two among the buds on the tree limbs overhanging the boardwalk.  He’ll have plenty of time to work on his technique in the coming months.

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Residents of central Ohio were relieved today when the mysterious flaming ball that appeared in the skies yesterday vanished.  In its place is familiar, comforting gray skies, dull clouds, and rain.

IMG_3453The blazing brightness that the strange golden orb brought with it was too odd and unsettling.  It gave rise to strange urges to remove shoes and walk barefoot in the grass, to dance a little jig on the lawn, to show some bare skin to the world, to smile at the brilliance, and to engage in other forms of unseemly conduct.

No, far better to listen to the patter of the rain against the windowpane, to gaze at a landscape that has been washed clean of vivid color, and to return to the grim perseverance that characterizes the stolid residents of central Ohio.  Far better to remove the source of those curious impulses that we might not have been able to resist for long.  One day, perhaps, that shining source of light and heat in the firmament may return to tempt us . . . but not today.

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Residents of central Ohio were astonished today when our accustomed cloud cover vanished and a large, flaming orb unexpectedly appeared in the sky.

IMG_3450The object is so bright that it is creating sharp, dark outlines of objects, like tree limbs, mailboxes, and even people, on the ground.  It is so dazzling that mortal man cannot look at it directly without being blinded.  If you wish to walk around in the brilliance, you must shield your eyes to avoid being stupefied.

It is unclear whether the object is dangerous, but there are warning signs that it may be hazardous.  It appears to radiate some kind of energy, because exposure to the object leaves the back of your neck feeling warm and tingly.  It also exerts a curious attraction.  People seem to want to go outside and bask in the object’s brightness.  Neighbors who have long remained indoors are outside and have discarded their coats.  Have the authorities been notified?

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IMG_3441Punxsutawney Phil might be cute, in all his plump, furry, buck-toothed, rodentine glory, but he should be called Suxutawney Phil in view of his pathetic weather prognostication abilities.  Overnight, we got several inches of heavy wet snow — when the Punxster predicted that winter would end several weeks ago.

No longer will I trust the forecasts of the furry fiend emerging from his burrow on February 2!  From now on, I’ll rely on the weather auguries of Rochester Ralph, the floppy-eared rabbit forecaster who foretells the length of winter based on whether he eats lettuce or carrots on January 26, and Hanover Hal, the happy hedgehog who rolls into a ball when prodded with a stick on February 5 and veers right or left to predict how much snow will fall in the next two months.

In the meantime, Kish and I have declared that we just can’t take much more winter weather.  When spring finally gets here, we’ll return from a quick trip to Pennsylvania and celebrate with a delicately flavored, nourishing groundhog stew.

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IMG_3428According to the calendar, spring has technically arrived . . . but we know that spring isn’t here just yet.

Last year the bushes in our back yard became overgrown and we asked a tree service to trim them back.  They did, and then some!  Now we look out the kitchen window and see the barren shoots and branches thrusting out of the ground like skeletal fingers, and it’s a bit depressing.  Here at Webner House, spring will be declared only when we see some buds on those stark, sharp, bony bushes.

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I think every ten-degree increment has its own, distinctive personality.

IMG_3354The teens are cruel, and the 20s are unforgiving.  The 30s are bone-chilling, and the 40s are gloomy.  The 50s are hopeful, and the 60s . . . well, the 60s are joyful.  When the 60s come after a long winter, giving us an early — albeit brief — taste of the spring to come, the effect is magical.

We took a leisurely afternoon stroll today as the thermometer hit the 60s, and it was as if a sleuth of bears had awoken after a long, cold winter of hibernation.  People were out jogging, riding their bikes, and skateboarding in the unfamiliar sunshine.  People clad in shorts were washing their cars, with the radio playing in the background.  And children’s toys had been removed from basements and garages and put outside where they belong, to add some color and fun and shouts to the suburban milieu.

The 60s will be gone tomorrow, as our temperature once again plunges downward.  But I sure enjoyed today’s brief glimpse of warm weather.

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IMG_3341Two hopeful signs of spring this weekend:  this morning I saw that the swans have returned to our New Albany pond, and tomorrow morning at 2 a.m. we will all “spring ahead” into Daylight Savings Time.

With the swans dunking their heads and long necks into pond water that was frozen only a few days ago, and sunshine that will last well into the evening, can spring be far behind?  Don’t forget to set your clocks ahead tomorrow!

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IMG_3306The winter storm finally arrived last night, and it left behind the dense, heavy snow that is perfect for packing.  Even these old, unpracticed hands had no trouble making a firm, round snowball that would be aerodynamically sound when hurled at a target.  If the schools are off today due to snow, I’d expect there to be a terrific snowball fight or two, and a few snowmen around the neighborhood when I come home from work tonight.

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