Tag / Weather

by Greg

Only In Upstate New York…

We have three or four inches of wet snow on the ground (but of course life continues as normal… that’s nothin’!) and many seasonal ice cream places have been open for more than a week. 🙂

Oh, and just a day or two ago, when all the other snow had melted and we were reveling in our 40-degree temperatures, our neighbors were talking about opening their pool! (OK, it was a joke, but we were enjoying the nice “warm” weather.)

Maybe we’ll head out and eat some ice cream in the fresh fallen snow today…

(I’ll post a photo on the snow here when I get a chance to take one.) 🙂

by Greg

Caught In A Snow Storm!

Last night I took our four kids up to the library to return some books, and to pick up a few new ones. The library is only half-way around the block, so we bundled up for a nice winter walk. It was even lightly snowing, so it was more fun than usual!

We even sang a song on the way there:

“Going for a walk in the snow to the library,
Going for a walk in the snow
Going for a walk in the snow to the library,
Going for a walk in the snow!”

It was perfect, and the kids did pretty well in the library. We got the books we wanted, and some stamps from the nice librarian. We bundled back up and headed out the door.

What we discovered was astonishing.

Swirling, blowing, blinding SNOW! Where did this come from?!? I just laughed! It was like a joke! What happened to our light flurries??? Well, we had no other way home, so I made sure faces were as covered as they could be and we set out into the storm.

And this was a storm! The wind was a constant 10-15 mph I’d guess, with stronger gusts. And the snow was collecting on the ground – and on us! – at an alarming rate. The worst part was, a third of our trip was heading west, directly into the wind! At one point during that stretch I turned around and pulled Julia in the stroller backwards (which helped a lot I think) and saw poor little Kirstie just closing her eyes and leaning into the wind as she pressed ahead into the blizzard!

It was crazy!!

Once we were able to turn south, and find a bit of shelter behind a giant brick church building, it got a little better. We laughed all the way home through the still rapidly falling snow.

Red cheeks, faces, and other exposed skin greeted Mom when we got home. Mom actually met us in the driveway, as she had seen the fierce winter storm and was coming to get us. But we managed to brave the elements and make it back home safely.

I told the kids as we were fighting the storm that we’d have hot cocoa and hot baths when we got home! And we’d also read a couple of the library books we just worked so hard to get.

And we did. 🙂

by Greg

Crazy New Yorker!

Today was the coldest day of the winter so far here in Western New York. How did we spend it? Well, in the morning, we toyed with the idea of playing outside under the beautiful, clear, sunny skies… but eventually thought better of it. But later in the day, following the pregnant urges of my wife, I put on the parka and fired up the grill on our deck for the first time in a couple months! I was grilling hamburgers at temps in the low double digits!

Only in upstate New York, folks.

Speaking of NY… it is a complete shock to me that the Giants are in the Super Bowl. Complete. I mean, with each game I thought, “You know… they have a chance to win!” but really, in the end, no one thought they would be in the Super Bowl this year! And, even though I really don’t like the Giants, I will be rooting for them to finish what they started in week 17 and put the perfect exclamation point on the year for the Patriots and for them. They will be 12-1 on the road this year (winning 11 straight) and the Pats will go 18-0 … only to LOSE THE SUPER BOWL.

Man that would be awesome. And I don’t even like the Giants! 🙂

So, from the Frozen North.. here’s hopin’ the Giants can pull off one more major upset in the Super Bowl.

(Did I just say that????!!)

by Greg

Bad Water

It would seem that our little wind storm a few days back did more than knock down tree limbs, knock out power, and darken a 9-year-old’s birthday plans. I heard through the rumor mill yesterday, and confirmed by public notice today that we have potentially sickening drinking water in our little town here!

(That could explain Jen’s sickness yesterday, I suppose…)

So, this is my public service announcement for the day, I suppose. If you live in (or near?) Palmyra, NY… BOIL THE WATER!

JUST IN CASE YOU WERE WONDERING…. This ended by the end of the next day. So, you don’t have to keep boiling your water anymore… 🙂

by Greg

"I’m Gonna Blow Up!"

It’s a very blustery day here in Western New York state. Many limbs are down, power is out, all sorts of crazy things. My niece has power back now where she is at in Buffalo area, but she told me a few trees are down at her house – including one on their house! Yikes!

Well, as I was battening down the hatches this morning, I remembered another time we were in some seriously powerful winds. It was the spring of 2002, and we were out in Colorado, north of Denver. We were introduced to a chinook. These very strong, constant winds blow over the Rockies in the late winter/early spring and we weren’t prepared for the intensity of them!

As we left the hotel where we were staying that morning, little Ian (who had just turned three) was doing his best to keep his feet on the ground! He was very concerned, and just blurted out, “I’m gonna blow up!!!”

Well, as you can imagine, first we laughed … then we helped the lad stay connected to the Earth. He was very glad for big, heavy parents that day. 🙂

It’s similar today, just not as sustained.

Let’s hope we don’t blow up today! 🙂

by Greg

Let It Snow! Keep It Coming!

In all the busyness of my web design work, and my Buffalo Bills show, and everyday life as a family of six, I have not gotten to say HOW MUCH I AM LOVING THIS WINTER!!! (AND IT’S NOT EVEN WINTER YET!!!!) 🙂

Just after Thanksgiving, people had their Christmas lights up (and on at night) but the ground was still green. Well, just about my birthday, that all changed! We got snow… and it’s set up camp! Looks like it’s going to be around for a long while and that is GREAT NEWS!!

It makes the Christmas lights look a lot better, too. 🙂

It snowed all day today – another 6-7 inches maybe? It’s supposed to snow all day Sunday. And Monday. And probably more after that! Oh man! This is my kinda winter!!!

The cool part for me is that I work upstairs. I don’t have to get the snow off the car, or shovel the driveway, or DRIVE in the stuff. I just get to have a nice hot cup of whatever and LOOK at it! Whoohoo! Oh… and I get to make snowmen with my boys at 10:30 at night. 🙂 (See below…)

Bring it on, winter! This is why I live in upstate New York!!!! 🙂

Our late night snowman!

by Greg

Fall Is Here… Sorta

First Fall Foliage
A weekend ago, the weather here was just fantastic. Highs in the 60s, beautiful sunny, clear days. Amazing fall weather. But then last week we were back in the 80s!! Yuck! And today, I left the house this morning for some errands around town, and felt just fine walking in my jeans and black t-shirt. But then came the afternoon. It’s HOT again!

Today is the first full day of fall. I do see the signs. The leaves on a tree in our back yard are changing color. But it’s 79ºF. Come on. We live in upstate NY. I want 50s and 60s in late September!! 🙂

It’s coming. Maybe I’ll take some more fall photos and post here in the weeks to come…

by Greg

The Heat…

I must say that even though my air conditioner has been blasting all day… my attic office is really beginning to heat up. It’s up to about 83 degrees now, and probably still climbing. That’s actually really good because the non-insulated portion of the attic seems to be at about 130!!! 🙂

What I’m a little annoyed by is the fact that heat just shuts me down. I have a much harder time focusing, and things just take longer to do. Have you ever noticed that? Perhaps that’s just my body chemistry that prefers and external temp of about 67 degrees. 🙂

Hope you’re staying cool today. We do enjoy the air conditioning, or a nice visit to our cool basement, and maybe later we’ll even take a dip in our neighbor’s pool. Maybe heat is God’s built-in way to help us relax a bit? 🙂

More in a bit… gotta get back to work!

by Greg

Air Conditioner Installed!

Today is a special day for me. Every year I both rue the day, and am elated on that same day. Today I installed my window air conditioning unit in my office. And I turned it on. 🙂

IT’S SO AWESOME IN HERE!!! COOL AND DRY…. AWESOME!!! 🙂

The other day I like is when I get to take it out, and just enjoy the coolness of Fall and Winter, that I don’t have to PAY FOR. 🙂

But, today I just have a constant smile on my face. 🙂

(See?) 🙂

by Greg

Another Example of My Weirdness

Earlier this week I got up early to go for a walk, as I have been doing since the beginning of 2007. But not long after I got up, I realized that I really don’t have to do this anymore. I forced myself through my routine, and even left the house. But my walk was just a brief trip out for errands, and was just not as enjoyable.

First, it was a lot hotter. I couldn’t even wear my cool, thick, hooded sweatshirt. Too hot! Then, there were tons more people! That was crazy. I had to watch for traffic! 🙂

When I got back home I realized that not only is it not as enjoyable as my walks earlier in the year, but really it’s less necessary. I started going for walks between 7 and 8:30 or so in the mornings because I felt like I wasn’t getting any exercise at all. Not even just exercise… I mean just… movement. 🙂 So, it seemed like a great way to do that. Slap on the iPod Shuffle, catch up on a podcast or two, and get about 2 miles of walking in.

And it definitely was!

But now, I play outside with our kids… and our family goes for walks nightly (last night I took the kids up to the park about a mile up the road. We walked along a wooded trail filled with all kinds of wild-life, played in a park, and walked back! Sore feet after that one!!!) So, walking in the mornings is no longer necessary.

So I’m not. 🙂

The funniest part is what I titled this entry… it’s just more proof of how different I am. Everyone else STARTS walking when it warms up. Not me! That’s when I stop. 🙂

Why am I so different? It’s very strange…