Cloud Watching

These clouds are the kind that I look at and see interesting shapes. Is that a turtle?

Our weather has seemed mixed up this week. We had days when no rain was forecast, but a heavy storm came through suddenly. Today rain was forecast, and it did come, but it didn’t last very long.

Yesterday, a summer storm arrived unexpectedly. I took a picture of it splashing down on bricks.

Evening Clouds with Branches

“Most floods are caused by man, not weather; deforestation, levee construction, erosion, and overgrazing all result in the loss of ecosystem services.”
—Paul Hawken

Return of the Ponds

Maurertown, VA

Last summer, the ponds in Shenandoah County Park dried up due to the drought. Recent rains have brought them back.

We are officially out of drought stage, but ground levels of water are still low. As I write this, a thunderstorm has brought showers once again, and relief from a very hot spell. The heat will be back, of course. Some parts of the country are getting it worse than we are in Virginia.

The Last Week of May

It was a busy week. Marie left on Monday, which was Memorial Day. I had a dermatology appointment on Tuesday, and had to have a spot on my cheek removed for a biopsy. They also treated other sun-damaged spots, leaving me with a slightly beat-up looking face. And it rained. 

I always rest in the car for a while after that sort of appointment because I want to be sure that I have recovered enough to drive safely. The spray that they use on my face leaves me lightheaded. I took a picture of dogwoods through the wet car window.

I canceled the dental appointment that I had for Wednesday because I wanted a day to recover before the funeral that I was going to on Thursday. It rained again, and stopped long enough to take Charlie to Riley Park for a quick walk.

On Thursday, the weather was good. I’ll write about Dr. Poland‘s funeral later.

Yesterday we had more rain. There was a tornado warning, but it didn’t touch down here, although I heard it was seen in Page County. I did pick up my grocery order during a break in the weather.

Today was quite chilly for the end of May. I took Charlie to Camp Roosevelt for a walk, not venturing far from the car because there was a chance of rain again. I’ll share pictures from that trip on another day. 

In the meantime, here’s an image for Caturday.

Relief from Drought

We've had some pretty good rain this month, which is fortunate because we were in drought conditions for a long time. We are now officially in "abnormally dry conditions." That is still a concern, of course, but at least the spring rains are helping the crops to get a good start.

The first picture of a puddle on pavement was naturally without color, but  I desaturated it to make sure it qualifies for Black and White Weekend. 

I took the second picture looking out a window from a medical office.

The rain has been good for trees too. This one is a redbud.

In a Mirror, Staring.

It's only been a week since I wrote a little rant, but I'm going to complain again anyway. But before I do, here's a picture of Charlie in the side mirror. I've noticed that I've used a mirror as a framing technique several times.  Ha, I’ll probably do it again!

Poor Charlie. He likes to take walks more often than I’m able to. I don’t understand why he needs to go out six times a day. He should have a fenced yard and a buddy to play with, but my yard is so small that I don’t think it would be a sufficient space for him to play. I’m worried that I’m not going to be able to give him enough walks much longer.

I went to the orthopedic doctor on Tuesday. He gave me an injection in my left knee. It’s been in pain for over three months, and now the other leg is giving me trouble. The injection helped a lot, but I’m concerned about the way my other leg sometimes feels unsteady, like it’s giving out. I’ve almost lost my balance a number of times. 

The doctor give me a form for a temporary handicapped tag for my car. I don’t need it all the time because I can walk short distances, but if I arrive at the grocery store and the parking lot is very busy, I may need a handicapped spot. I hate needing special treatment, and I don’t like feeling old, yet here I am. 

As I drove home today, I listened to a radio program on the economy. Usually I enjoy it and learn something. Today it was really depressing. If you are reading this in April 2025, you know what I’m talking about. It’s almost surreal.

I’m retired. My savings are at risk. My Social Security is at risk. The cost of living is going up. I did prepare for a small downturn, but not a catastrophe, and it looks like there’s a strong chance we’re facing one. 

Also on the news are more weather-related disasters. No doubt many of the disasters are the result of human-caused climate change. And environmental changes can cause social changes, as people try to move to a more livable place. They’re not always welcome. (Deliberate understatement.) 

I am not a pessimist by nature, but I am not an optimist either. I try not to let cynicism make me bitter. But sometimes I just want to scream, “Stop it! You’re ruining everything!”

Well, Mr. Rogers said, “Look for the helpers.” I see they’re out there. I just hope they can rally enough of the complacent folks and the scared folks, so they can join the strong and the caring people and put us back on track. God help us!

A Tornado Watch Day

We were under a tornado watch all afternoon. The day started out with dark clouds and wind. I took Charlie for the usual morning walk except more hurriedly.

The sun came out, but since it was windy and a tornado was possible, we stayed home. The power went out for several hours. Charlie was very sad because he wanted to go on an adventure and he had no idea why I would not take him.

The electricity finally came back on in time for dinner. Our evening walk was brief. By that time, the tornado watch had been extended to 8 PM and a thunderstorm was on the way.

Even a dark sky can be a beautiful blue.

Mosaic Linkup / Sunday Best

The heavy rain came, but did not last long. One of my windows leaked, though. It’s already been repaired several times!

I’m glad we didn’t get a tornado. Yesterday there were horrible storms over large sections of our country. 

I’ve been around a long time, and our weather has definitely changed. There are still politicians and a few corporate people who don’t believe in climate change, and some gullible people believe them. The majority of Americans are concerned about climate change. I hope it’s not too late to keep things from getting worse.

Snow, Climate, and Insurance

In Virginia, snow is not unusual. But this week brought snow to the deep south, including cities on the Gulf of Mexico. Scientists tell us that warming oceans have caused more evaporation of water into the air, increasing precipitation that includes snow as well as rain. 

Like most people, I am concerned about climate change. We all need to be prepared for extreme weather events. It’s obvious that we are already in a period of changing climate. I’m not too worried about the people who want to push environmental science back fifty years. Corporations have already discovered that alternative energy sources are cost-effective. They exist to make money, not to throw it away on a lost cause. We have passed the tipping point on clean energy, but unfortunately we have also passed the tipping point on climate disasters. Update your home insurance! 

Speaking of home insurance, I had a strange thing happen with mine. It got canceled and I didn’t have any for two years! The payments come out of my bank account so I wasn’t concerned when I didn’t get bills for it, and payments were still being made on my investment property insurance. Time seems to pass so quickly now that I didn’t notice when more than a year went by without hearing anything about my policy. But something reminded me; perhaps it was stories about the California fires. I went back to look for evidence that my insurance is still current. I didn’t find it. All I found was paperwork from 2022, which included a printout showing that my insurance had been canceled then and reinstated. I had written a note on there stating that I talked to Jackie at Geico about it. I recall that there had been a problem when they got my former husband‘s home insurance policy confused with mine, but I had straightened it out. There it was on the printout that it was reinstated.

Well, for some reason they canceled it again. I was horrified to find out that my home was not insured, but I was able to sign up for a new policy. That was 90 minutes I won’t get back, but at least my house is fully insured.

I hope my readers and other friends are comfortable and safe. A lot of people have frozen pipes from the very cold weather. Our temperature finally went up to 1° above freezing today, and tomorrow is supposed to be warmer.

Song Sparrow and Starlings

Sunday brought us more snow, followed by very cold temperatures. A water main broke and faucets were dry for five hours. It could’ve been worse

The cold has spread to states south of us, and even parts of Florida are covered in snow. Birds have been flocking to my feeders, and I’ve been able to trudge out there and replenish the seed supply.

The song sparrow is a delightful bird. I don’t see them as often as house sparrows.

We only got an inch or two of snow this time. I was able to adequately clear the driveway with a broom.

Starlings look pretty in the sunlight, but they can be a nuisance. They arrive in a flock and try to monopolize the feeders. Sometimes they tap on my windows, annoying the dog.

On days when it’s too snowy to go to the park, I’m glad that I have birds to watch.

Tufty and the King

This is another series of screenshots from my birdfeeder camera. It has a wide-angle lens which distorts shapes, sometimes with amusing effects.

Here a tufted titmouse lands on the edge of the seed tray, interrupting the meal of a northern cardinal. The male cardinal can look quite majestic, but this lens makes him look like a big head on a round neck.

Tufty reconsidered his position and moved to the back perch.

Personal Note #1: It was cold today, well below freezing. My feeder camera stopped working, so I cleared a path through the snow to reach it. I tried to adjust the solar panel and cracked a piece of plastic. At that point, I decided it was too cold to troubleshoot, so I added birdseed to the feeder and went back in the house to get warm.

Personal Note #2: My younger daughter Marie, is back in Burbank. Wildfires are causing catastrophic damage in Southern California, but her town is safe at this time. If you have seen images of the fires, I know you are concerned for all the people and animals in that area. If you happen to live there, please be ready to evacuate if the time comes. Be safe!

Sunday Monday Snow

We finally got some real snow, not like last year when we had a few inches and they melted away pretty quickly. By real snow, I mean enough that it needed to be cleared off the driveways and roads.

It snowed Sunday night and I woke up to about 5 inches of snow. There was more snow on Monday, maybe an inch more. I’ve seen much deeper snows here in Virginia, but this was enough to make driving risky.

Female Cardinal

I stayed home on Monday, except for walking short distances in my neighborhood. Charlie needed his walks, although he did not like the snow or the cold weather. Temperatures were below freezing.

Lawrence, my lawncare guy, cleared my driveway on Monday afternoon. Today I felt comfortable in going out to shop. Of course, I took a few pictures of snow scenes.

Criss-Cross Contrails

The Shenandoah Valley is directly under major flight paths. If you've ever flown west out of Dulles International Airport, you probably saw the Shenandoah River and the Blue Ridge Mountains below you.so it isn’t surprising that we see numerous contrails (jet trails) on days when the temperature is right for streams of mist to form.

There is widespread misunderstanding about this phenomenon. They are not an attempt to change the weather, but they are not entirely innocent either because they can trap heat, contributing to climate change. 

Photographically, they can be interesting. I took these pictures from several locations in Woodstock on Sunday. 

 

Skywatch, 6:15 AM

Although we went back on Standard Time on Sunday, I’m usually awakened before daybreak because Charlie hears truck sounds and gets up. He whines to go out for a walk. I try to make him wait until there's a little light in the sky, when possible. 

If it’s still totally dark, we only walk up to the last streetlight on the block and then come back. If there’s enough light to see what’s ahead of us, I will walk farther. I worry about things like coyotes and even rabbits. Charlie is a rabbit-chasing dog so I don’t want to encounter one.

Yesterday morning I checked the news before going outside. I was almost sickened by the election results! But then I realized there’s something even more important, and that is the dramatic changes in climate that we are already seeing. Stronger hurricanes, disastrous floods, drought-fueled wildfires… and even in my own lovely valley, crop yields have been lower, and there are water shortages. 

I don’t know how long civilization can thrive as weather worsens. More people will be forced to struggle for food and shelter. More animals will die. We have to fight this! We could even become migrants if our own habitat becomes unlivable. We could be the ones who are not allowed to settle in another place. Then what?

Don’t waste your energy on hating or regretting. We have work to do. Even those of us who are too old to put long hours into this battle can offer support and ideas. We can have a tree planted, fill a bird bath, join organizations, and make thoughtful choices. 

Then there’s education. Wow, there’s a lot to be done there! Lately I’ve been shaking my head at how stupid people sound on the Internet. They don’t know the difference between propaganda and news, or myths and history, or real photos and fake ones. Okay, that last item is really difficult. Seek out articles on AI.

I don’t mean to preach. You already know what to do. Thanks for being here.