"On wan dark night on Lac St. Pierre,
De win' she blow, blow, blow,
An' de crew of de wood scow "Julie Plante"
Got scar't an' run below --
For de win' she blow lak hurricane
Bimeby she blow some more, . . . "
~ WH Drummond
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There are times when the crew of the wood scow "Rat" must acknowledge a helpless insignificance in the face of nature and acquiesce until its tantrums subside. Last week brought winds so fierce that, for the first time in over a year, we could feel the Rat shudder and rock from several right hooks from Mother Nature.
This photo shows the dust storm raging along the path of the creek, obscuring our normal view of mesas five to ten miles away. The sage in the foreground is straining forward to the east under the heavy hand of the wind. Click on image for larger view
The day had started out with benign breezes. Eventually the playful zephyrs became like rowdy drunks, hurling innocent objects aloft simply because they could. I looked outside and saw Mark attempting to become Rocky the Flying Squirrel by waltzing with a 4x8 sheet of sheathing. "Secure that thing and come in here! No sense in continuing with the project until the wind dies down!" No one likes to hear that sort of logic expressed when they are on a roll but Mark had only needed a second opinion to confirm his own thoughts. In the company of all dogs and cats, we spent the rest of the day reading and watching interesting items sail past the windows in their unexpected maiden flights. The water and addition project fell into stasis between the winds and the likelihood of thunderstorms. On the other hand, we welcome such occasions to read obsessively without any mantle of guilt. We are truly enjoying no longer being caught up in agendas, timetables and goals. We did take occasional peeks outside to formulate new and improved plumbing configurations and create new schematics. The next town run will bring home definitive supplies to complete our water machinations. But I may have made that presumption before. For the want of a nail, the kingdom may wait another half a month for continued progress but things do happen eventually.
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Humor of the Day (from Ken)
Bumper stickers for seniors
- Senior Campbell's Soup - new LARGE type alphabet soup
-The secret to staying young is to live healthily, eat slowly and lie about your age.
-I must be getting older - all the names in my personal phone book end with M.D.
- I'm not old - I am chronologically gifted.
- Be nice to your children - they will choose your nursing home.
- FLORIDA - God's waiting room!
- Experience is a wonderful thing. It enables you to recognize a mistake when you make it again.
- Quit worrying about your health. It'll go away.
- At my age, flowers SCARE me.
- I'm so old that all my friends in heaven will think I didn't make it.
- Birthdays are good for you; the more you have, the longer you live.
- One good thing about Alzheimer's ... you get to meet new people every day.
- It ain't the age, it's the darn mileage.
- Support bingo. Keep Grandma off the streets.
- When did my wild oats turn into prunes and bran?
- Any day above ground is a good one!
- My wife always gives me sound advice; 99% sound, 1% advice.
- Retirement: Twice as much husband, half as much money.
10 comments:
As the wicked witch would say," I get you and your little dog too!"
That is is some windstorm you have going.Make your electricity with wind power.
Alphonse,
Unfortunately, the wind doesn't blow consistently at a volume to warrant the cost of current wind harvest equipment here. I have heard of some less expensive systems coming down the line though.
Ain't no better here, with trees, when the wind blows like it did in MY corner, Thursday! After the "loose-inventory" on the ground, the rest of the day until sunset was spent stayin' out of the way of low-flying branches, from wind-gusts up to 48 mph!
But I must admit, my yard has never been cleaner!
Bruno,
Whew, I wonder if you got the same winds then? Last I saw of them, they were headed your way in a hurry. You didn't happen to see a yellow lid for a truck tote go by, did you?
Yall are funny. I bet the wind out there in the desert never stops. Nothin' to get in it's way. And dust everywhere.
Loved your title. I've had many social engagements delayed by passing wind especially now that I'm in my twilight years. Hereditary? Hope not for your sake. Ann
FHB,
Down here in the canyons, we have a little shelter from the winds. Up on top of the mesas though, there is a far more constant wind. You're right ... dust ends up EVERYWHERE, even with the windows closed!
Ann-onymous,
I anxiously await the invention of a time-release Beano pill. Its inventor will become disgustingly rich with the demand from, appropriately, BOOMERS. Grin ... remember Paul Boomer, the Aussie contender in the RCFC?
I gather you and anonymous are really busy passing wind.
Thought Ken's article was hilarious (I'm plenty old enough to appreciate it).
Catmoves,
Ann-onymous and I seem to be bringing new meaning to the term "Old Fart".
Seems like most of our friends and family are old enough to appreciate Ken's bumper sticker contributions like we did.
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