Showing posts with label wind. Show all posts
Showing posts with label wind. Show all posts

Friday, June 17, 2022

What Strange Weather

 I feel like it is a safe guess

to say that my family has been

to Yellowstone at least 15 times

from the time I was born and up

until my fathers death. 

 


I remember fires having

closed Yellowstone Park

but never flooding. 

This weather has been so strange.

I know that I mentioned

how tired I get

each time the wind blows. 

I dont know why it has sent me

into a coma so often like

Im taking sleeping pills that

knock me out into another week. 

The fact that it really does happen

is strange.

 

I also get hot

whenever it rains. 

When I am sound asleep and

the rain is pounding

on the roof, it is not the

sound that wakes me up. 

 

It is the rising temperature

in my body. 

Why does it do that? 

Why would I get hot when

the rain itself is so cold? 

That is also strange.

 

I never referred to the summer

as fire season until

I moved to Oregon. 

The first exposure I had to it was

the year 2015 when

we first moved to Oregon. 

 
I dont remember the fire marker

being set to low in

July through September.

I dont recall our first exposure to

 smoke and haze until

August of 2015 when we

chose to explore Grants Pass. 

It has been smoky most Augusts that

we have assisted at the pear farm

in Medford.  Strange.

 

And now its wet. 

Wetter than I remember Oregon

being this late in June

if at all. 

I dont wish to see fire season delayed. 

I would like to not see it at all. 

Or smell it. 

Or breath it. 

 

https://www.oregonlive.com/wildfires/2017/
09/the_worst_wildfires_in_oregon.html

I want to stay safe. 

I want the weather to stay cool. 

I like the 50 60 temperatures. 

I dont like the constant vacillation of

today will be in the low 40s but may

end in the high 80s.

  That isnt nice!

Wednesday, April 7, 2021

Just In Case You Don’t Have a Window

 


                It’s going to be cloudy today 

except over there

          What is it appearing on the horizon? 

The sun

The blinding sun

coming to you from the east

for two hours only

but that is only if you live in Myrtle Creek

 

Over to the west you will see grey skies

overlooking the Tri-City area

Sunny skies just east of Myrtle Creek

and possible showers for Tri City

two cities sharing the same zipcode

but hey . . .

Let us give them different weathers. 

Why not?

 


Cool to downright Cold winds

wherever you may choose to walk Bonnie

or rather wherever she may choose to walk you

or attempt her own keen sense of direction

And after you return home,

Let us allow the sun to peek its head

                   From the sky.

 


Crazy weather.

Friday, April 27, 2018

Of Course It Was Expected!

                The weather seemed to be the perfect temperature during Bill and Kayla's visit - except for the last day which was cold.  We had a few perfect days since until Tuesday and Wednesday.  Unbelievable Heat Wave.  Roseburg broke a record of 90 degrees on the 25th of April.  How dare it be warmer in Oregon than in Salt Lake!


            We had watched the news to learn of how much longer.  We were told that yesterday would be hot but not as bad as the last two days.  The next week predicted a drastic drop in temperature and rain.  Of course, we'll get rain.  We can make that happen just by putting up our A/C.  At first, Roland was just going to do our bedroom, and wait to install the A/C in the main room.  After watching the news, I thought he might in the bedroom, but he ended up doing both. After he had placed each one in the window, he turned them on to a nice cool temperature.  As it turned out, we didn't even need them on - well, at least not the one in the bedroom. 

            I don't know what the temperature was outside, but I'm certain that the cool winds made it feel below 70.  In the morning it was 66 - three degrees lower than Salt Lake - that has been a first for a while.  But Las Vegas has always had blazing temperatures.  How miserable for Corey to be there.

            I shut off the bedroom air and put up the windows because it was less costly, not blowing on me directly, and not as noisy.  When we retired to bed, we could hear thunder - a noise I have not been greatly familiar with since we moved to Oregon.  I did not hear any rain, however.  There is rain now, just a light one barely tapping at the skylight.  It may have been lightly tapping all night.  I didn't notice as I was asleep - except at one thirty when I retrieved some blankets I had folded up earlier and thought I would need them again.
            I got up and closed one of the windows and added another cover to the bed as I figured Roland was cold.  This morning he thanked me for the blanket and asked if I had gotten cold.  No.  I was comfortable.  I left one window open.  Neither had been open wide.  Each was just an inch or so.  That was enough.  Now they are both open.  Still not that wide.  I am comfortable with whatever temperature it is now.   

Wednesday, April 4, 2018

Why Is It SO DRY?

            I don't recall it ever having been as cold in Oregon as it has been this past March.  We haven't had near the amount of rain as last year.  Except for the dew on the grass, I really haven't seen or felt a lot of moisture.  And yet the hills are a golf course green.  There have been times they've been capped with snow.  It has always been less than a foot, but in this part of Oregon, those few inches are enough to keep buses off the back roads.  Some of Jenna's classmates have missed a few weeks because of it.
 
            I had told Kayla NOT to bring the trailer tent because the weather had been too cold.  They did leave the trailer in Utah - but not because of the weather. She said she was happy about having left it behind.  Apparently, the wind had blown for most of their travel here.  That was how it had been for us last June when we had gone back to Utah for Jeanie's funeral. A constant cold and comatosing wind.

            It's not as if I've always had complaints about the air quality in Utah.  I don't think I started complaining about it until after we moved to West Valley - though there were some tough years when I had still been single, it didn't seem to be quite as often as West Valley.  I realize it may have just been an age thing - but I also realized that the ventilation of that house was not the greatest in addition to having the lowest ceilings of any house I had ever lived in.  I need at least four feet of space between me and the ceiling (I don't know if that is accurate - I'm just estimating).  I've never lived in a house with skylights until we moved to our house in Oregon - two years ago this month.

            I also noticed that I was always tired whenever the wind blew - but apparently, the wind/coma thing was only in Utah.  The wind never had the same effect on me in Oregon except for twice now.  I can no longer remember when I was affected the first time, but I remember being tired last Thursday when my sister and her family were due to arrive.  I was tired for most of the time they were here - but it wasn't because of the wind. 
        During the time that my sister and here were here, the weather had been really nice for most of their stay - not at all what I had expected.  Roland and I actually had our windows open while we slept - but it's gotten cold again. And we put the heat back on.

            He's still got that stupid cough, and I have been waking up trying to clear my throat from all the dryness.  Last year's rainfall seemed to last for four months.  We haven't had near as much rain and I find my breathing now feels similar to my normal breathing in Salt Lake.  I don't like that.  Perhaps we'll have to move closer to the ocean.

Sunday, June 18, 2017

It was so Windy, it blew off Jack's eyes


                I don't dislike Jack-in-the-Box but I can't say I'm an avid fan of their food.  Jack-in-the-Box does not exist in Salt Lake, and so the only time I've been is while vacationing on the west coast and it just happens to be convenient.  We've been to the one in Roseburg a few times, but not very often, which makes me wonder how it is we had even ended up with three antenna balls.  Jenna and Roland like them because it somehow makes our car easier to spot.  Well, I don't have radar eyes and if it is smaller than the tire, it is not big enough for my non-observant eyes to spot.
                The wind blew each day during our trip except for the Friday we went to Wheeler Farm.  That day was hot.  I suppose if I had a choice, I would take the wind.  I don't guess it would have mattered.  I would have probably felt comatose either way.  Roland says it takes 10 days to acclimatized.  I'd forgotten about the adjustment we had gone through during those first couple of weeks after we had arrived in Oregon.  Must just have an effect on older people however.  Jenna's body certainly didn't seem to notice.

                It just feels so weird to me that after having lived in a state for over 50 years that I would need a longer time to adjust to being there than my vacation time would allow.  Who would have believed I'd be wiped out so quickly?  In addition to dry throats and fatigue, I was experiencing heat rash.  That was a new one for me.

                Our first day on the road landed us in the small town of Lake View.  The wind was blowing really hard. 
I asked the waitress if it was normal.  She seemed a little freaked about it when she answered,

                "NO!  Not even in March.  That's when we get the most wind.  But nothing like this!"

                I don't think it was windy when we'd gone through Nevada.  But it wasn't as hot as I think of Nevada as normally being. Although it was windy in Salt Lake, it wasn't as windy as it had been during our travel.  Especially on the return back to Oregon.  Once the rain stopped, Roland was hanging onto the wheel trying to keep the car on the road.  I asked him if he felt like he was driving through the eye of the storm.  He said yes.
          Tractor Trailers (another name for Semi-Trucks or 18wheelers; a name I actually never understood until watching them moving with the wind) would pass us by and the "trailer" part would be swinging all over the road.


               I saw a green mile sign that was bent in half (couldn't even read how far apart what towns they were as the information was upside down)


                I think the face of our first Jack antenna  ball we had just faded in the sun.  But Roland claims that the wind blew them off sometime during our travels. 

Saturday, April 18, 2015

UDOT is the cause for the Weather


I guess the slowed traffic I had encountered last week had been due to construction and maybe not an accident.  I hadn’t noticed all the poly cones and orange barrels set up until this morning – and so of course I returned a different way.  Construction or school zones.  What a choice.

I should have figured out that there is now construction on the roads by the harmful weather that we had Tuesday and Wednesday. Foul Weather ALWAYS takes place right after UDOT (Utah Department of Transportation) sets up to do road construction.  It seems to linger for at least two weeks before UDOT can start actually fixing the roads (or at least appearing to do so) but has not been the case this year.  But we may have been hit with two weeks of bad weather all in two days.



In 1862 it was decided that the working individuals in this nation (we weren’t even a United States at that time) would pay taxes to help support the efforts of the civil war (see here).  The amount of income that one makes has been recorded since and taxes must be paid. 

I don’t know if they had a specific deadline then, but there is now.  Paperwork sent in has to be post marked before or on April 15th.  If the processing of the envelope is dated April 16th, the one sending is in violation.

Here, in Utah (and I would assume other states as well) there are a handful of post offices that will stay open until Midnight for all those procrastinators who were unable or unwilling to mail before said time.  There are several people who despise April 15th.




April 15th on this particular year (2015) was especially horrible for most Utahans who had to have their taxes in.  Not only did they have to face the deadline, but also had the elements working against them as well.  I think for the most part, Wednesday’s weather mirrored the feeling that most taxpayers have about the whole tax paying paperwork ordeal.

Not that the moisture is a truly terrible thing.  We actually are in need of the moisture – in the mountains, in the rivers, on top of nature where it counts.  We don’t ever need it on the roads – and yet it falls there just the same.



Jenna and I had gone to K-Mart.  I found a hat and scarf on sale for 99 cents each.  I bought both but had no intention of using them right away.  I put them on April 15, 2015     I shoveled the walk and driveway for what I hope to be the last time EVER.  Not only my walk, but my neighbor to the right, who is a widow, and our neighbor’s to the left – whom we home and visit teach.  Wore new boots – not insulated.  Feet cold but dry

Two snowfalls this year – one on March 3 and one on April 15.  It was like Mother Nature decided to dump down a month’s worth in just one day.   Of course by Thursday afternoon it was gone – at least in our neighborhood.  I could hear the water running off the roof all day. There is no evidence of there ever having been snow in some places.  It’s been cold, however.


Tuesday was quite windy. "Hurricane winds" is how it was described on the news (here, here, here, here, here and here) . I’ve encountered winds way worse than what I saw on April 14th.   I remember driving to fetch Kayla from her place of work.  A sign blew out and shattered to the ground as I drove passed.  And the traffic lights were swinging violently at every intersection. Of course, I felt overly tired all day. 

I wonder if it will be too cold to do yard sales?  Roland thinks we ought to start packing.  He’s right.  We need to go to the liquor store and get some boxes.  Someone had told us they make the best moving boxes.

Thursday, October 16, 2014

The Wind Has Knocked Me in a Coma - Journal Entry




I take Highness for a walk
He’s notorious for wanting attention
after we have all gone to bed
I want to wear him out
I’m already worn out

Roland and I are on the couch
watching Shark Tank
I suggest we finish watching
in our room
He let’s the dog out just before
he comes into the bedroom
to join me

“What are you doing
letting the dog out?!”
I think.
Now one of us will have to
get back out of bed
to let him in.
I can’t remember
which one of us
received that honor.

I am asleep
I missed the end of Shark Tank
I actually don’t remember
turning on the TV
maybe Roland did

It’s 2:00 in the morning
when I can hear Highness whining
“Go lay down!” I say
Sometimes that works

Highness ignores me and continues whining. 
I let him outside.
I have two pillows in my hand.
I sit on the couch in a reclined position.
I don’t know how long I have slept
when I hear Highness bark again.
He has stayed out longer than usual
How surprising
Especially when I consider that
he’d been out for five to seven hours
while I was away less than
fourteen hours ago.
Not to mention the twenty minutes or so 
when we had gone to bed

Roland wakes at 4:10.
He sees that I’m gone
and goes back to sleep.

On couch this morning. 
It is getting cold.
I decided to turn on the heat for Roland.
I don’t hear the click when I turn the dial.
I don’t check the clock.
It could have been 5:30 or 6:00.
I should have checked.

I stir on the couch
The wind is howling. 
I pull the afghan around me.
I think the heater is broken.
I get up.
I am in a daze.

I hear noise coming from
the TV in my bedroom.
I see that the light is on.
The door opens. 
Roland is fully dressed.
He says it’s 6:30.  Oh, shoot.
He was supposed to take us
to school this morning. 

Jenna has drama club
early in the morning and
he doesn’t want her left alone
before the school opens
That is why I have to go with her.

But Roland will be late
if he takes us all the way
to the school so I tell him
to go ahead and leave

Jenna is crying
because nobody had woken her up
and she believes she’s going to be late
and she didn’t get breakfast. 
None of us did.

I throw on a wrap
and grab my windbreaker for Jenna
to wear over her hoody
(which is not all that warm)
I grab a hat from my back pack
I should have grabbed one from Jenna’s room
as well

Before we head out the door
I grab an apple and banana
Roland hits McDonalds
before he gets to work
He wanted a hot chocolate
and they told him there’d be a wait.
I think he would just leave
except he already paid.

He doesn’t drink it
until he gets to work.
It tastes awful!
McDonalds messed up his order
Roland received a coffee
instead of hot chocolate.
He finds another
to give his coffee to.

Jenna and I wait for the bus.
We wait and wait and wait.
Jenna cries
as she believes she will be late
She will be if the bus is as late as it had been
last night.
We’re not going to be late.
The bus finally comes
We arrive at the school
fifteen minutes before drama club starts

My wrap blows in the wind
I am reminded of the tail end of

though my cloak doesn’t 
wave that long

I make three bus transfers
I am home by 8:30.
I turn on the TV to watch
“Dancing with the Stars”
I missed two dances
because I was asleep.

Roland calls me and relates the
events of his morning with McDonalds
Says he’ll return for lunch
and report to the manager
It’s a short day and so I leave the house
to pick up Jenna
I am wearing my windbreaker and wrap
and hat and scarf
because the wind is loud
and howling like this morning
not as cold though
but I don’t notice until I have passed
the house next door.

I remove the wrap and scarf
and return home so that
I don’t have to carry them on the bus
Before I get to the school
I have removed my hat
I pass a house with a windmill
Funny I have never noticed before
Today the wheel is spinning hard and fast
So fast it just might come off

The bell rings just before I sit down
at the bench
Jenna is playing on the playground
but does come eventually
I ask if she would like to catch the bus
in front or behind the school
she chooses front because
she needs to run inside the school
for a few moments

We notice Marvin out on the lawn
waiting for his grandfather
When we exit the school
Marvin is still waiting
It is a short day
Perhaps grandpa has forgotten
I asked Marvin if he would like me to call his grandpa
But he doesn’t know grandpa’s number
And I don’t have my old phone
Where I have grandpa’s number stored
I ask Marvin if he would like to go to the office
to call his grandpa or maybe
we could just walk him home.

I choose to walk around the school
rather than cross the field
(though it takes longer to go around)
That way we can look for grandpa’s car
in case he is on his way.
Marvin believes the sidewalk is a better choice
and faster than crossing the field.
It's not.
I don’t know why grandpa drives around to pick him up. 
His brother Isaac always crossed the field.
I wonder if Marvin has been bullied
and maybe that is why.
Or maybe it was expected last year 
because Marvin was just in half day kindergarten 
and is just used to being picked up

As we approach grandpa’s house, I notice
that his car is gone.
Marvin thinks that grandpa has gone to the store.
I hope that is where he is and
not at the school searching for Marvin.
Jenna and I continue to the main road to catch our bus.

We get off at the corner and grab
a late lunch at Burger King
before we continue our walk
to our house
I start dinner
Roland calls to say he’ll be late
He’s not hungry anyway.
He gives Jenna a coupon for a
Free smoothie or frappe from McDonalds.
She is off school for the next two days.

Wednesday, September 10, 2014

Where’s My Rain?




         So often the weather forecast promises rain – and there are a few drops.  Sometimes we have showers that last almost twenty minutes.  Jenna and I will sit under the carport and watch the rain.  I love rain. 

         The promised rain always goes somewhere.  Often it is not received as a good thing.  It has caused the earth to moisten to the point of mud slide causing extreme financial damage – not to mention has left some homeless.   Or having I-15 close – in the dessert of all places.  That’s just mind-boggling.

         For me personally, Rain has always been a positive thing.  As I mentioned in this post, at least half my family vacations involved rain – not that we had planned it that way.  Dad always helped us to make the best of it, and we learned to accept and enjoy.

         I have fond memories not only of places that I’ve been, but the attitude of those that have surrounded me.  We always had fun in spite of the rain or because of it.



         There are several times I have taken my umbrella and have not needed it or purposely didn’t take it with me because I wanted to welcome the moisture.  Each time the forecast says “rain” – there is, but always elsewhere.

         I had planned to go to Kayla’s on Monday – right after I dropped Jenna off at school.  That day the wind was blowing – getting ready for the supposed expected storm.  The air was cool.  I might have enjoyed it, except for some reason it seemed all my energy (which lately isn’t a lot) had been sucked out of me.  I was so tired.  My presence wasn’t going to do either Kayla or the children any good.  And so I went home and slept.

         Yesterday morning was overcast – but hot.  And not a humid hot.  A dry hot.  Like when you are standing too close to the vent and it shoots a warm dry air up your body.  I found the thick heat to be smothering.  After I left Jenna, I got on the bus headed toward Kayla’s house.  When the bus turned the corner, black clouds had filled the air.  I could get rained on, I had decided.  And I welcomed the rain – though my backpack didn’t.  I hadn’t thought to bring an umbrella to keep my backpack dry.

The rain had stopped by the time I got off the second bus. By the time I left Kayla’s house, we couldn’t even prove that it had been raining - well, except for my overly damp backpack.

This morning seemed fair.  I wore a light jacket.  It came off before Jenna and I parted ways.  I am warm again.  I would much rather have the rain than the blaring heat of the sun or the hot dry air that makes me feel like I’m trapped in a sauna and can’t ever get out.  Why do people pay to sit in saunas anyway?  I know from experience that it is less costly just to sit in your car – particularly if it’s a dark one.