Countdown to Spring - The Lost Weekend

No, no, not that kind of lost weekend.  It was a weekend lost due to lack ability to blog for this series.  Okay, yeah, boring.  But, so was my weekend without electricity.

It started Saturday afternoon.  As I watched the cold front approach from the west, I knew the weather was going to change abruptly and then be back to normal.  Even the National Weather Service only had us in a Severe Thunderstorm Watch area.  Nothing too bad to worry about, right?

It was breezy most of the afternoon, but it was still unseasonably warm in the mid-60s and nice.  It started to cloud up around 5 and around 6:30, it started to rain.  Nothing major, a light rain.  Surprisingly light, given the radar views of what was coming.

Within five minutes, the light rain turned into a deluge and was accompanied by winds that likely hit at least 70 miles per hour, if I remember my Beaufort scale indicators correctly.  The wind didn't last long, but between it, the rain, and the frequent lightning, the power went out within two minutes of the storm hitting.  No electricity between 6:30 PM Saturday and 12:30 this afternoon.  Ye-hah.

I was fortunate in that I had a kerosene heater to keep at least one room warm, although the rest of the house went a little ice-boxy as the temperatures dropped off into the 30s outside and low 40s inside (yes, I checked).  I was also fortunate in that I had a small generator, something I had bought just before Tropical Storm Irene hit the area a few years ago.  As a result of my little power-maker, my fridge stayed cold, although it likely would have anyway given the indoor conditions.  I also had a light, radio, cell phone charger and I even made coffee on Sunday morning.  The generator wasn't too happy with the coffeemaker's extra load, so on Monday, I made coffee by heating water on the kerosene heater and pouring it through the coffee in the filter – not bad.

I even had use of my laptop.  What I didn't have was internet access.  Network was down and my cell phone is so old, it can't pass the SSL protocols anymore.   I'd be lying if I said I didn't miss internet access, but I didn't go into withdrawal like I know some do.  I probably would have been in worse shape if I didn't have the laptop available, though.  Okay, so it's a lower level of tech addiction – sue me.  However, I didn't run the generator 24/7, so even the laptop wasn't available all the time.  I didn't feel like reading.  I didn't feel like writing, either.  I didn't feel doing much of anything beyond staring at the walls and checking with the power company's recorded message of when the power might be coming back on.  Self-induced boredom – it ain't pretty.

When the power finally came back on, I wasn't here.  The power company, after telling us the power would be restored at noon today, changed their message to inform those in the affected area that power wouldn't be restored until 6 PM.  ARGH!  While I knew I had enough kerosene to continue heating, I knew I didn't have enough gasoline for the generator, so I headed out to buy more gas.  While I was out in the great wide world, I met a fellow resident of the area who said that the power came back on about ten minutes ago, about the time I was pulling out of the driveway.  So, I came home, re-plugged in the stuff which had been connected to the generator, turned off the kerosene heater, and then did what I really needed to do – TAKE A SHOWER!  After that, I headed for work for the last three hours of the workday and then returned home.

So, that's the story of my lost weekend due to the passage of a cold front through the area.  Rather not have a repeat performance of the event anytime soon, thank you.  The temperatures are now down in the 30s and 40s again, normal for this time of year.  The crocuses and snowdrops managed to survive and were open to the warmth of the sun today like normal, although we've already established that it's not normal for them to be blooming here this time of year.  But life in general has returned to late winter normalcy.  Mixed feelings about that.

Only 21 days until Spring.

Countdown to Spring - But Wait, There's More

As we await the passage of a cold front which, after a lot of wind, a dowsing of rain and possibly even some thunder, temperatures will be returning to average for this time of year.  There goes that heating bill savings time.

That being said, I discovered my snowdrops are now up and starting to bloom, and the cream-colored crocuses are coming up along with what is now 20 purple crocuses.  Depending on how much rain we're supposed to get, I may cover the flowers until the downpour passes.  Crocuses and snowdrops do better with snow than they do with a deluge of rain.  They may be early, but I'd really like to enjoy the color for longer than the day or two they've been up.

Only 23 days until Spring.

Countdown to Spring - *Heavy Sigh*

While the forecast is for the precipitation to end by no later than 8 PM this evening, it was forecast to be rain.  Guess what we're getting?  Hint - it ain't rain.  But, it's not completely snow, either.  It's rain (not freezing) and very wet snow combined, occasionally traveling back and forth between the two.  It's been in the 40s for a good part of the day, so whatever is coming down as snow is melting on contact with surfaces which had no snow on them.  For now, anyway.

I know we've had snow events back to back to back before.  But, my tolerance for them is a little thin this year, perhaps in part because we really haven't had much in the way of snow until this late in the season.  That and I'd like a break from shoveling that extends out more than a day.

Oh, did I mention my roof leaks?

Where's my heating pad?

Only 33 days until Spring.

Countdown to Fall – When it Rains …

While for the most part it’s over, it rained last night and I do mean rained.  As I write this, I think it’s still raining very lightly.  Either that or water is dripping off trees and hitting the top roof right now.
 
While it let up a few times, for the most part, it downpoured from the slow moving storm system that passed through.  I checked online a short time ago for an approximate precipitation total for my area and AccuWeather is estimating at least 4” inches of rain fell locally between Saturday 6AM and now.  That sounds about right based on what I was hearing and seeing during the night.  I miss my rain gauge, though.
 
Talk about making up for lost time. While a lot of it will be runoff, it was still a good soaking and our drought status has definitely been taken down a peg or two.  Now, maybe we can get back to the normal season at hand.
 
Only 10 days until Fall.

Countdown to Fall – Rain, Rain, Come Our Way

This is going to be a mercifully short entry.

My area has been very dry for most of the summer.  Most streams and lakes are below their normal levels by a noticeable amount.  Those with gardens have had to depend more on bringing the water to the plants instead of letting the rain do the job.  Foliage normally looks a duller green starting about now, but this year that dullness began back in early August.  We were starting to look kind of like a tinder box waiting for the flame.  I feel for anyplace with wildfires right now, knowing full well that, without relief, we could be next.

However, tonight into tomorrow and at least two more times in the next ten days, they're predicting rain for the area.  I welcome those little drops of relief despite the fact that I have a leaky back roof and rainy weather now makes my joints ache.  In the larger scheme of things, we need it.

Only 11 days until Fall.

Countdown to Spring: Ah, Rain

Shortly after sunrise, there was a pitter-patter on my roof.  It wasn't that flock of starlings mentioned in an earlier entry coming in to land and look for breakfast. It definitely wasn't snow or sleet, either.  It wasn't even the freezing rain they had forecast for the morning hours in my area.  It was just plain old rain.  You know, water that falls from the sky that isn't frozen?  That wonderful stuff.  The stuff that helps make the frozen stuff disappear.

Yeah, I know, it has its drawbacks in showing up this time of year, flooding from snowmelt and blocked waterways being one of the problems.  Still, I welcome it.
For the sight and sound
of raining coming down
means the signs of winter
will more quickly leave town

Only 6 more days until spring