Pages for "Surprised?"

Surprised?

I am truly surprised, dismayed and shocked at how people have been 'surprised' by this lovely storm we've had.  We were warned about it on Sunday, when we had warm weather and clear skies, that it was coming. I watched the radar map from the US because that's where the storm was coming from.  This was a big storm from Texas/Colorado that came up and brought us rain and freezing rain and coated everything in ice.  

It may not be on the Canadian radar, but that doesn't mean it isn't coming people - if the storm is coming from the US it will be on the US radar for a person to track.  I was shocked that so many people said they didn't know it was coming - my goodness how can you have missed it?  It was a HUGE system...and what did they think rain in FEBRUARY would do?  Bring up flowers? Green up the grass? UH DUH!  

Now if you check the radar and the forecasts and road conditions you should have a pretty good picture of what is going on. And if you don't watch your feet when you are walking out of your house - our front door under the pergola is ice and you can skate down our driveway and down our municipal road.  Get a weather rock, look your windows, turn on a radio or a TV, check the weather online, watch the wild animals and birds.

Yeah that's right, watch the wild animals and birds - are they eating like crazy?  Are they in large groups? Eating when they normally wouldn't? Those are signs of a storm - the animals can sense the changes in barometric pressure and their instincts tell them to get ready with full tummies because they might be without for a while.

Speaking of full tummies - do you have your 72 hour kit?  Generator? Batteries? Radio? Flashlight?  I won't list it all here because there are many sites that do, but would you be able to take care of yourself for 72 hours without power and municipal services?  We'd be okay but we are prepared, as we have to be out in the country. Living in town or close to town is a false comfort because you can be without power and help for just as long as us country folks.

I usually don't rant like this but c'mon people pay attention!  This isn't a surprise, it's not falling from a clear blue sky...really...

Weather or not...

I like to think I'm pretty mellow about some things, not many according to my dear husband, but some. Especially those we can't do anything about, like the weather.  It's gonna be cold, windy, warm, wet, cloudy, clear or dry without our input or permission.  We do however have the right as farmers to complain, cajole and attempt to bribe said weather by virtue of our dependence upon it.  

I was thinking what would be the single most 'farmer' image I could photograph or paint - and it would be a farmer or a farm family looking at the sky.  So much of what we do is reliant on the weather - our eyes have forever been on the skies, forever wondering if they will favor us with what we need or laugh in our hopefull upturned faces with exactly the opposite.

Maybe it is Murphy's Law, but when I have to travel there is almost always weird, strange or just terrible weather.  Even when I think the forecast looks good, it will change from sun to rain to sleet to a road closing blizzard in less than 9 hours!  Wonder what my ancestors did to anger the powers that are weather? 

I'm pretty confident saying I'd rather deal with prairie weather than the coastal hurricanes or even earth quakes. Somehow a blizzard, frigid cold, massive rain or tornadoes don't seem so bad stacked up against that!