Hey Mother Nature — get away from the bottle!

May 14

Apparently Mother Nature has a sick sense of humor?

After dousing our area with nice to hot weather for a week or two, she showed her teeth once again. On Mother’s Day, it was extremely cold and windy. That made any attempt at the annual golf outing that day tough. Nine holes was all that was accomplished. The sun was starting to pop out at the end and it was warming up, but still way too windy.

Monday comes and it’s quite cold again. I went out for a few things and saw a few flurries. I laughed it off.

Flurries on Monday may have not looked like this, but it sure felt like it!

Driving back a couple of hours later, I went through stronger flurries. Boy, that was fun.

A couple of people in the neighborhood covered plants last night.

Why, you may ask?

A freeze warning! Seriously. Something in the 20s was possible. Oh joy. I saw frost on my car last night before turning in for the night. That’s always nice.

Especially in May.

Apparently, according to the local news last night, our area set a record because we got a trace of snow. That hadn’t been done on May 13 before.

The latest we’ve (well, Binghamton area) has seen snow?

May 18.

Hopefully that record won’t be broken this year.

Today is slightly blue skies with some clouds spread out. The sun is shining. But it’s only supposed to reach the mid-50s.

That’s a start.

Maybe Mother Nature will get off the bottle yet. It’s obviously clouding her seasons.

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog [at] gmail.com. Also, please “Like” HooHaa Blog on Facebook!

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Brrrrr… bring on the spring

Mar 14

I don’t know about you, but I’m ready for the spring.

We were treated to some nice weather recently, but it took an evil turn yesterday and into today. It went from mostly sweatshirt weather to downright frigid again! As in temperatures in the teens!

Ugh!

We even got some snow last night. The National Weather Service claimed 2-4 inches was coming. We got maybe an inch, which lines up to what Weather.com was saying. I’m glad they were right.

I’m ready to start seeing this instead of the white stuff!

It seems there could be some more squalls, but things might pick up this weekend.

I hope it’s at least decent where I am heading for a disc golf tournament. If not, it will stink to have to go through a couple pair of shoes, socks and whatever else I need to do to stay warm.

I did get out in this cold weather to go find a geocache, though. I was first to find, which was the first time I have had an FTF in nearly six months. I don’t usually chase them anymore as there are a few people who get to them much quicker. But this one was out of the way and it was published near noon yesterday, so after lunch I headed over.

After about an hour of searching, I gave up.

Turns out the coordinates were slightly off. The thing that stinks is I looked where it actually is yesterday. I had my hand in it’s hiding spot. So mad.

Armed with a hint, I went back today. Yes, in the cold weather. And the light dusting of snow. And after 15 minutes or so, I found it and signed the blank log for the FTF. I also took coordinates (I needed to do it twice as the first set I took were much like the posted ones –and about 50-70 feet off). The second set let me to the spot, so I sent them along to the owner.

Still despite the cold, it was nice to get out and find a cache.

The spring is hopefully going to get people back in the geocaching spirit. Maybe a bunch of new caches will start popping up. I can soon go after the ones in the area I don’t have (which are hikes and not in a nice spot to do in the winter) and maybe exploring elsewhere.

A job would be nice, too. Maybe the spring will change my luck there? If I get one out of the area, I really will have a new place to explore!

But I’m ready for the spring.

The longer days are a good start. But it’s time for Mother Nature to let us see more sun and blue skies and let the temperatures start rising a little. This winter was definitely harder than the last one, so I’m ready to see spring start taking form.

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The frozen tundra is here

Jan 24

Growing up in upstate New York, I’m used to cold winters.

This week has been brutal though.

The area seems to be struggling just to get out of single digits and we’ve had wind chill announcements for a couple of days now.

The National Weather Service’s weather report today for my town says: “Mostly sunny and cold, with a high near 6. Wind chill values as low as -17. Blustery, with a northwest wind 15 to 20 mph, with gusts as high as 30 mph.”

Brrr!

Fun times!

Since when did this part of New York turn into Alaska?

You laugh. Think I’m kidding?

According to the Weather Channel’s app on the iPhone, as of this writing, it’s 5 degrees in my town — with a wind chill of 12-below-zero. In Anchorage, Alaska, at the same time, it’s 27 degrees (feels like 22).

Now, I realize if you get to the top of Alaska in Barrow (which, strangely enough, is a place I’d actually like to visit), it’s 12 below (feeling like 31 below). But that’s extreme, right there.

I am not in Barrow. I’m in upstate New York. And heck, we’re actually closer to central New York than actually being way upstate, such as in Watertown (0 degrees/-13 wind chill as of now).

I’ll be fair and note there are some blue skies out there. It really does look inviting.

Alas, the NWS has issued a wind chill advisory in the area until 7 p.m. tonight (though from looking forward, I wouldn’t be shocked to see this change and become even longer):

A WIND CHILL ADVISORY IS ISSUED WHEN WINDS COMBINE WITH VERY COLD TEMPERATURES TO CREATE DANGEROUS CONDITIONS FOR EXPOSED SKIN. THE WIND CHILL IS EXPECTED TO BE COLD ENOUGH TO CAUSE FROSTBITE IN ABOUT 30 MINUTES OR LESS…AND COULD LEAD TO HYPOTHERMIA IF PRECAUTIONS ARE NOT TAKEN. THOSE PLANNING TO VENTURE OUTDOORS SHOULD USE COMMON SENSE AND DRESS WARMLY…MAKING SURE THAT ALL EXPOSED SKIN IS COVERED.

That is absolutely a fun thing to read. Something tells me I should brave the weather to go start my car and let it run for a few though.

Relief appears to be coming soon, though. The next two days show a high of 15 — with the chance of 1-3 inches of snow tomorrow night, though! Cold and snow.

Ugh!

Sunday boosts to mostly sunny and a whopping 22. At some point midweek, they are calling for the 30s, as well as one day in the mid 40s (though with rain), before dropping back down into the upper 20s/low 30s. That’s what winter is supposed to be.

A friend sent me this photo — from 7:30 a.m. near the Cooperstown area. Yikes!

Not 5.

Though I hope it doesn’t get too warm for too long. I’m looking to go to a geocaching event next Saturday, and it’s on a frozen pond. So that warmer weather (in the 40s, anyway) and rain can kind of go away for a little while as this event sounds like a heap of fun.

But that’s still 10 days away. I’m more worried about now.

And staying inside where it’s warm. It’s a good thing I have a job hunt to keep me inside. Because if I had to be outside on a day like this, I think I’d be miserable.

Brrrr!

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The winter isn’t so bad after all

Jan 08

The winter isn’t so bad … for a short while.

Last year, my area was odd in the winter.

No snow. Warmer temps. And, well, the ability to head out and do non-winter things during the winter months.

For those who dislike the harsher winter weather, it was a slice of perfection. Well, kind of.

Though this year started out that way, winter has shown its face. And it’s been a bit ugly. In the week between Christmas and New Year’s, I used the snow blower three times — that’s two more times than last year. That one time last year probably didn’t even need to be done, but we got a wet snow and the plows pushed it all in the driveway. It was much easier to snow blow than shovel.

For those who don’t know, I recently interviewed for a job in the south. Despite high qualifications and, what I thought, was a pretty solid interview, I didn’t make it to the final round. Some day I’ll truly share that experiences, but for now, I’ll leave it be. Anyway, when I get deep into the job process, I’ll often research the place where the job is located.

After all, you want to know what you’ll be dealing with, right?

The place where I was looking had some long and hot summers. I can deal with weather as it comes, but it made me realize there would be a chance I wouldn’t experience four full seasons. It’s one thing I think some take for granted when we live in the Northeast. We get a healthy spring, a variety in the summer, usually a colorful fall and then winter.

Winter can truly be beautiful … at least for a little while.

We see it all.

During those seasons, we have the ability to go see different things — wildlife, nature and the such — that goes with each season. And, it also allows us to do many things. For those who are into it, there’s four-wheelin’ and snowmobiling. You can hike in different weather.

For me, I can play softball in the summer, disc golf in most seasons, geocache all year and get out and experience different things. A couple of years ago, I even had the chance to do some snow shoeing. I’d actually like to do that again, someday, but need to be able to get shoes that feel comfortable and work on my feet better than the ones I used.

As a photographer, it’s great, too.

Winter is actually, to me, the hardest season to shoot in. With bright white snow or whatever else, it can make it tough. But some of the images you can come away with are incredible.

Also, it’s quite nice to drive on some back roads after a fresh snow and see it sticking to tress. It’s a beautiful thing.

This area is expecting some warmer temps this weekend, so some of the snow we have might be looking to disappear. And, for all I know, most of the winter might be leaving. But no matter what, we got a bit of it this year and it’s not a bad thing.

Turns out, winter isn’t so bad after all.

I don’t know where life will eventually lead me, but I do know that no matter what, I’ll cherish some of these winters. The path I end up following might still take me to a warmer climate, so I might not always get the four seasons. Don’t get me wrong — the long winters are tough. But a decent winter isn’t too bad as it truly gives you a highly enjoyable slice of life.

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Soundless Sunday: August 5

Aug 05

“A lot of people like snow. I find it to be an unnecessary freezing of water.”

– Carl Reiner

An early snow in 2008.

Soundless Sunday is a weekly feature where I’ll try and feature a favorite quote and a photo that I’ve taken. Enjoy life — it’s the only way to go!

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog [at] gmail.com. Also, please “Like” HooHaa Blog on Facebook!

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