Don,
I keep forgetting that you are below the 49th Parallel so you get the same weather as Chicago and Michigan. Living on the eastern shore of Lake Michigan has got to be a real challenge!
According to the Washing ton Weather Feds, this year just might be the tie breaker. So far, the current El Nino, nicknamed Bruce Lee, is the second strongest El Nino on record. Apparently the warm southern water in the Pacific Ocean has shifted north so water above the equator is warmer than usual.
This affects winter weather in the United States and can cause winters to be a bit warmer - there was no saying as to whether or not that means more or less snow. And no one is saying whether or not this will end the drought in California.The eastern seaboard usually gets heavier rains with these. The one thing that we have seen has been the decline of Atlantic hurricanes, but Pacific cyclones (hurricanes) have been more frequent. This does cause problems for Asia and the islands in between including Hawaii.
I have to admit that this summer has been milder than expected. And we had a lot of moisture in the form of rain and hail early in the summer. But we've not had our usual July/August monsoons, so for now, we're very dry and very lucky that we aren't having the forest fires that have plagued us in the past. We do get the smoke from the fires in Washington and Idaho. Some nights we can't open our windows.
There are reports that aspen are changing - last year it was October before the trees changes. A friend in Minnesota reported that geese are already migrating south. This is about a month earlier than usual... I wonder what the trees and the geese know that I don't know.
Even though my container garden is not doing as well as it did last year, the Farmer's Markets have been prolific with ripe delicious produce. Lots of tomatoes and young sweet squashes; sweat corn that puts sugar to shame; the peaches and pears could be a bit juicier, but they are still incredibly tasty. Beans are stringy and costly... but chilies have been hotter than usually and very very tasty! We went to a market yesterday where a vendor was roasting chilies - it was a spicy sweat smell. The onions we've bought have been strong enough to bring tears to my eyes at the first cut. By the time I get to cutting the root off, I'm crying!
Fall - for you it is back to school. For me it is how many more essays do I have to read? My daughter complained loudly a week or so ago that she was more than ready for the grandkids to back to school. This week, the grandkids all complained that it wasn't fair that summer was over and that they didn't get to do all the things they wanted to before they had to go back to school. I guess I was one of those strange kids - I liked school so going back in August was not soon enough for me.
Speaking of strange, I came across a weird article about the octopus. According to a recent genome sequencing of the octopus, they are different than any other animal on Earth. They have 33,000 protein-coding genes where humans only have 25,000. Not only does the octopus have a large brain, it has eight arms (and can taste through its suckers) and is a problem solving animal. The genome charters are postulating that the octopus could very well be "alien".
I always knew aliens lived here - I just thought they took over the brains and bodies of teenagers for about eight years...
Friday I had the opportunity to hike a little known county park. Amazing! The hike was 3 miles round trip - elevation change was 1000 feet in the first mile and in the last mile (going down). But, the amazing thing was the split personality of the trail. The first part was through the woods on the south side of the canyon - beautiful dense moss carpets, bearded moss hanging from the trees, small creeks that still had water in them; you could hear the birds, but we never saw them. I think we could have planted a redwood tree there and it would grown.
At the top, we crisscrossed several more streams. Then we cut into the mountain and crossed over to the north side of the canyon. Within about 15 feet, we went from Pacific Northwest forest to dry dusty cactus and yucca, lots of sage and minimal pine trees - Colorado hiking. We came down a steep fire break road. After the "magic forest" we felt like we'd been tossed out of paradise into boring.
We decided that we'll go back and hike the upper 2.5 mile loop - and when we come down, we'll go back through the forest. Even though the down grade is intense, it will be a far more interesting climb down.
With all the hiking I've been doing in the last month, I'm discovering new muscles and tendons I didn't know I had (I think this is the weekend warrior syndrome). Last week I used a trekking pole and managed to twist my back ... I saw a massage therapist who suggested that if I don't need the poles for balance, it is best not to use them.
So for Friday's hike I did not use them. And all was well until we got about a fourth of the way down and I "blew out" my right knee. It is the IT band on the outside of the knee. I had thought of taking my pole and putting it in my pack just in case, but I didn't. It was a long long hike down ...
So, I've been using ice and exercising. Today I was actually able to walk a mile without any stresses. I will get this! And I will be an amazing hiker! Probably just in time for my neighbor (my hiking partner) to talk me into cross country skiing or snow shoeing. I think I have more muscles than I am aware of and I'm not sure there are any exercises that can be done to strengthen something I don't even know I have until I pull it.
It this my reaction to age? or is it my excitement to finally doing something about my sense of adventure?
Carolyn
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