Wintry February Reminder That We Aren't in Spring Yet... Tho Spring Keeps Trying to Sneak In. Thoughts on Hurricane Irma
I'm lying in bed under the covers.
Doing some work but staying under the cover.
My fake fireplace floor heater is on :)
Notes and notebooks scattered about my bed.
I decided to stay in today.
Note the red on the Maple Tree....
It's budding.
Rain not snow is falling.
Though some flakes and sleet fell last night.
Feels like the high 20s or low 30s out there today.
I don't go out in that weather unless I'm in NY.
I'm in Raleigh. Staying in bed.
I'll do some Yoga for exercise ;)
So I am home in my Carolina home and that's good, because I got here in time to watch Spring try to sneak in before the actual start of even meteorological Spring. That happens when the temperatures are very warm for a week or two in early February and Mother Nature gets all discombobulated and decides to allow the first few blooming trees of Spring to bloom a bit early. There are some white pear blossoms and that bright pink purple blossom that's part of the magnolia family but looks more like an orchid. The maple tree had the slightest reddish blush on it when I went to Miami and I came home to small little red buds unfolding fast to bring it back to it's normal red color that looks Christmas like against the dark forever green Carolina Pine trees. A neighbor behind me has his fireplace going I suppose trying to stay in Winter mode just a little bit longer. I like my fake fireplace with different color flames dancing about as the warm air comes out from down below and takes the chill out of the room and makes me feel cozier.
I've always been that type of person with dual lives, dual loves, two best friends and multiple interests so I don't feel conflicted over loving Carolina and also calling Miami my home and a city I love. I am who I am and I don't make excuses or pretend and own up to who I am and what you see is really what you get... though some here know me way better than others and possibly better than I know myself!
Last night we had a really short bout of winter weather as in "winter precipt" as in SLEET!
Sleet came down to the ground.
Like shards of glass under the street light.
Covering the windows of the cars....
... with fake promises of snow.
And then it began to rain again.
RDU had traces of snow.
I think I saw some mixed in with the rain.
Hard to say and too cold outside to linger.
Amazing how ten minutes of sleet...
...looked like icy crystals on the glass.
Too far away from Hurricane Season to bore you with endless stories of hurricane history but I warn you they are coming. I'm putting together my "favorite" hurricanes to discuss and thoughts on what this coming hurricane season may bring. But really what is in an early season forecast? I wonder, because almost everyone forecast a very cold, wintry winter in the East ... East of the Appalachians and this winter has been all West Coast Winter Storms and East Coast blasts of moisture rushing in from the Gulf of Mexico with storms training over the beach towns that Hurricane Michael took aim at ...... and if that is not some sort of pattern I don't know what is.
My son in Miami calls this "look" in Raleigh that "dead winter look" whereas I call it "I can see the sky I love it" look. I love looking through the lacy branches of the trees with the sky beyond peeking through everywhere that turns into a solid green canopy of verdant, Carolina green scenery. Winter allows you to see what's underneath it all and it allows you to see the beauty of each branch and the shape and form of the tree and it's trunks reaching up into the Carolina sky that today is gray not blue. Tomorrow is another day.
So this Wintry Stew is shown below. You get the feel and taste of the winter buffet being presented for lunch today along most of the East Coast. Spoiler Alert New York is finally getting the snow they have been wishing for all winter. Complaints will follow soon I am sure. DC and adjacent Baltimore getting snow and I'm not following Virginia's weather but sure they got more than Raleigh got of snow. Boone got snow and that's where the snow should fall obviously. Raleigh is like Camelot... it snows magically at midnight then disappears as if it was never really there. It's also snowing in Blowing Rock but I'm not there I'm in Raleigh getting rain, rain and rain.
WXBRAD @ Instagram and Twitter.
One of the region's best weather people.
I often joke I'm moving to Charlotte just because of him!
Charlotte is on my short list of places to move.
Then my Granddaughter Charlotte could come visit me.
(When she is older...she's not yet 3)
And Charlotte could play in Charlotte ;)
Well currently this is Charlotte's playground.
Check out that beautiful Miami canal...
Boats, palm trees and sunset.
Actually she lives in Coconut Grove.
Is that beautiful or what?
That's her Daddy's office view. You could have that view too if you bought a place in paradise to use all year or just as a winter hideaway. Miss Charlotte lives in a tropical paradise. Where do you live? Or more so . . . are you happy where you live? Where would you want to live? Are you one with your environment or do you feel like a fish out of water wishing you were in Biscayne Bay or near Pawley's Island?
Main Highway in Coconut Grove.
A true historic street in South Florida.
Her brother on the left enjoys Florida too!
Several of my sons go every year to this event.
Benjamin on his daddy Levi's shoulders.
Some of the other cousins, uncles, etc.
Miami is a play paradise all year.
And Levi loves his Miami paradise.
Buy something!
Make me happy ;)
Buy me a place in paradise ;)
Carolina is a Spring and Fall paradise each year.
I love both places and all of those kids.
Yes this is a trip through BobbiStorm's mind today.
That's Lucy cuddling with her father Mendy.
Lucy aka Leah Rivka is turning 1 soon.
Charlotte is turning 3.
I'm sending presents and going to do Facetime.
As Dina who has a birthday on Sunday says..
"you can't be everywhere at once" and she is right.
Her present is in the mail ;)
Moe has a birthday today.
Yes I had a baby on President's Day in LA years ago.
Gosh I loved LA.
That's Moe on the right.
His oldest brother Sruly on the left.
Both Pisces babies as is Dina.
Hebrew Month of Adar.
This week was birthday week growing up.
3 birthdays in one week.
Now we have Charlotte on March 2nd.
Lucy is also March.
I'm rambling.
That's good.
I like being me today ...
...ain't no hurricanes in the Atlantic.
Oh but look at that below.
Big, big swirl in the North Atlantic.
Greenland on the left.
Europe on the right.
Cyclonic Porn.
Just being honest.
Everything is connected.
It's snowing in Brooklyn.
I may be in Brooklyn in May.
Maybe.
I haven't decided but possibly ;)
Cranky dazzles us with his map gymnastics.
I say that as they truly feel as if they are in motion.
You can read the his blog but his maps are a treasure.
So is his brain ... but that's another issue.
As for me I'm staring at loops on Spaghetti Models.
My ultimate pasta buffett.
Lots of color and flavor but zero calories ;)
There are no hurricanes today in the Atlantic.
There aren't even tropical waves or depressions.
Only winter and Mother Nature playing games.
Weather is a wonderful hobby.
It can be a cruel mistress sometimes.
Take another look at the pic at the top of the page.
See the little votive on my windowsill?
It's a whimsical present my brother bought me.
We were in the Middle Keys.
A thrift shop was having a huge garage sale.
Lots of treasures left behind or found after Irma.
I have a good friend who lost her beautiful home in Irma.
Her Keys home... lots of family treasures.
She has a treasure trove of beautiful memories.
They are making it hard for people in the Keys.
That's a blog for another time.
Hurricane Irma may have stormed through...
...but the local governments are raping the survivors.
True...
You can't do this or that and it happens but it's pathetic.
It's not an issue of protecting their citizens.
It's a matter of protecting their future interests.
Big Pine Key was once home to many....
.. winter homes and year round homes.
A place people could afford in paradise.
Now days you can't park a trailer or boat on your lot.
Just move along and go somewhere else.
Let the big investors move in and improve the values.
Sad as Big Pine Key was a true Keys treasure.
Sometimes it's the aftermath not the hurricane that gets you.
And government doesn't look out for the simple folk...
...but those who will come in an invest lots of money.
Hurricanes bring an odd form of forced gentrification sometimes.
Big Pine Key... read up on it's history.
Irma may have officially hit Cudjoe Key...
..but it pounded Big Pine Key.
That was the hurricane season of 2017.
Then came the hurricane season of 2018.
Hurricane Michael slamming into the Florida Panhandle.
A late season hit for the Florida Panhandle.
What will 2019 bring?
Not sure......not yet.
I'm going to sit here and enjoy this bit of winter.
Maybe we will have a late season hit of winter again.
I played in the sleet last night (Brrrr)
And going out tonight a bit.
Cleaning, organizing and thinking.
Thinking out loud here in my blog on the off season :)
More to come soon.
Besos BobbiStorm
@bobbistorm on Twitter.
Ps..... It's always good to love where you live.
If you can't love where you live....
... I hope you get to visit places you love often!
Choose wisely in life!
Labels: hurricanes, living, musing, sleet, snow, weather, winter, writing
posted by BobbiStorm @ 11:05 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home