Stormfly

I have a Border Collie and a Minpin. It's gonna be binge and purge season IF we get inundated here.

We had some big wind events that year / month as well.

Lightning sensor works decent for a bundled package. Between the actual strike and the report shown is approx 6-7 seconds. Not bad for an internet based system. Wind sensors definitely vulnerable to erratic gust numbers from winged insects such as bees flying in the gap. Nothing is going to touch the consistency of a well made three cup anemometer with encoder disc and low friction bearings over time. Neither is immune to requirements of periodic maintenance.

Boring weather also tends to be quite nice to enjoy the outdoors. For those working outside it's a nice break indeed!

Yep, they are quite the hoot! Here we have lots of trees/woods and plenty of food (rat snakes, mice and this time of the year frogs) to keep 'em happy.

Barred Owls are making a ruckus here!

Another month it will be time to bring the Hibiscus trees out!

It's pretty amazing they take 17 years when you think about it. Most dogs don't live that long!

Yep! Don't hate the player, hate the game! Personally, I don't eat bugs. (voluntarily at least!) The grossest thing I've seen was a coworker biting the head off an anole (lizard).

In case you're hungry! Who to Cook: Newly hatched cicadas, called tenerals, are considered best for eating because their shells have not hardened. It is best to collect these in the very early hours of the morning, just after they have emerged but before they have time to climb up out of reach. The best way to do this is to simply go outside with a brown paper bag and start scooping them in. You can cook with them immediately, or refrigerate them (they will remain alive but will mature much more slowly) or freeze them. Keep in mind that freezing will work best for those that you are going to roast, as the consistency of the cicada may change and make them inappropriate for dishes that call for fresh cicadas. If you are unable to get any tenerals, then mature females are the next best thing. Adult males have very hollow abdomens and will not be much of a mouthful, but the females are filled with fat. Just be sure to remove all the hard parts, such as wings and legs, before you use the adults. These parts will not harm you, but they are also not very tasty. Soft-Shelled Cicadas Ingredients: 1 cup Worcestershire sauce 60 freshly emerged 17-year cicadas 4 eggs, beaten 3 cups flour Salt and pepper to season the flour 1 cup corn oil or slightly salted butter Directions: Marinate cicadas alive in a sealed container in Worcestershire sauce for several hours. (Note: You can skip this step and go directly to the egg step instead.) Dip them in the beaten egg, roll them in the seasoned flour and then gently sauté until they are golden brown. Yield: 4 main dish servings

The cold will return when heating oil is $5 a gallon! Thank goodness for woodstoves!

Never fear, the hail of May will soon be here!

Copper clad aluminum making a comeback?!

Depends on where the wind comes from.

Imagine if this were snow... Heard that 1000 times, right? Well... What a stinkin' rotten day to be outside! Now it's all foggy and, well yuck! So bloody muddy now. Good thing we're not getting 50 mph winds after this.

How about a hug?

I agree with this EXCEPT on a rare occasion which was May of 2018. We were in a crazy wet period and had puddles everywhere and one of those suckers was living near my bedroom window and would start peeping in the middle of the night. Harder to find than a cricket as they get quiet when they get a hint of any threat. More annoying than a smoke detector with a low battery! The annual cicadas that have their slow song at the onset of dusk starting in mid August is relaxing. Particularly if there is an approaching thunderstorm. Sometimes if the storm approaches in the afternoon the darkening skies will get them going early. If it really gets dark the katydids start their fanfare too! By far the best thing was the total solar eclipse in 2017. I was in a cabin in TN and experienced 100% totality. The amount of temperature drop and crickets and katydids singing like dusk was descending upon the landscape was surreal. And when it was coming to an end; the few first rays appeared creating the classic "diamond ring" in the sky, everything started lighting up as if a single metal halide street lamp in the sky started up and you could see it getting brighter again, albeit a strange eerie bluish glow. As totality approached the drop off of insolation was fast and had a logarithmic feel. Kind of like the days in the theater where the house lights are subtle and suddenly start dimming as your cue that the film was about to begin. Words cannot describe the experience of being there, period. It's FAR more than just getting dark and then light again. You can actually feel something is happening. I can only imagine centuries ago how the indigenous must have felt working outside and suddenly clear skies turned into night! I'm sure they thought the world was coming to an end.

Has anyone heard any peepers yet? It's been so cold, i.e. no Feb warmups so we have the cone of silence. No worries, before we know it we'll have peepers, grey tree frogs (I actually enjoy those after an evening soaking from passing thundershowers!), and of course our friends of brood X. Which btw have an estimated density of 1.4 million bugs per square acre. Yikes!

Ugh, looks like a dry chem fire extinguisher exploded inside! I would definitely shake it before I fell that. I don't have allergies but that is sick! When the pollen gets going up here at night on IR it looks like its snowing on the security cameras! And when we wash it off the solar panels the gutters look like they're filled with pea soup!

But Elsa can bring snow!

It's funny how if its cold(ish) outside and I get the woodstove cranking and it's 85F in the house the wife is all cozy. Yet in July if it's a degree above 75 inside she's burning up! LOL

Funny thing as I get older I cannot tolerate heat!

Imagine all the pool parties for Memorial Day weekend that are going to be ruined by these bugs!

Anyone have sensors measuring soil temperature? For a 17 year event this may prove worth it!

As long as I don't wake up to this... Wife would be pissed!