Most of us don’t think about the “value” of our jobs, beyond the paycheck. But truthfully, when we have been unable to do our jobs for a matter of weeks due to illness we begin to realize that our work has more benefits than merely the pay we receive. Not that we would or could work for nothing, but rather that we learn to look at our work as an important part of who we are.
I was reminded of that today. It was the first day I have graded lumber since having the gall bladder surgery. Obviously in a physical job, the first day back after about 3 weeks has its own challenge, but it also is satisfying to know that I can still get the job done, even if it was not so ‘graceful’ and a bit slower than normal.
There are a lot of folks who are out of work despite their best efforts in the current economic mess we are in. Those of us who have work should be thankful, I am. If you are unhappy with your job, just imagine yourself without any income at all, then your job might not look so bad after all.
Our MN weather has taken a change. This morning when I left home at 5:30 AM it was 33° and snowing hard. The snow did not last long, but then the northwest wind came up and the temperature dropped throughout the day. The last I looked it was 12° and they are forecasting near 0 by morning. Quite a change from the 52° we had yesterday! But still well above what we can generally expect at this time of year.
Showing posts with label weather. Show all posts
Showing posts with label weather. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Surprises
I assume most children are no different than my 11 year old daughter about now. Only 5 days till Christmas and she is about to “bust”! At least I hope most children have that anticipation, no matter how small the surprise may be, for a child, it is enough to have the excitement, just knowing they are going to receive some gift of which they have no ideal what it will be.
Personally, and I also assume most people my age have a similar attitude. I feel like I have had “enough surprises” in my lifetime. I say that with a smile in that most of the real ‘surprises’ we get as adults on not in the form of a ‘gift wrapped” package.
This Christmas season we have been pleasantly surprised with MN weather. It is on the tongue and thoughts of everyone. Today it reached almost 40 degrees here in the center of the state. I looked at the 10 day forecast (MSN internet) and nothing much is to change over the next week. Everyday had a 0% chance of precipitation. That is fine by me, I am still rooting for a “Brown Christmas”, to the discuss of many women and children. Give me a break is all I say, I have lived here 24 years and it will be a first, if we see the ground bare on Christmas day. Parts of the state do have snow, but where we are, we are experiencing a “winter drought”, rare, but welcome.
Here is why I think I will pass on “surprises”. In the year 2000 we received the biggest surprise of our lifetimes, speaking of me and my wife. You see, we were 43 years old. Our “only child” had grown up and left home in ‘97. Three years of freedom from raising a child really did me no harm, that I could see. Then in March of 2000 my wife informed me that she would need a “pregnancy test”, that was her mild way of trying to break the “news” to me. I tell you, some things in life are hard to accept as a possible reality, I assumed that was “impossible”. As history proves, my assumption was as wrong as it could be. No matter if I live to be a hundred, I will not receive a bigger surprise than that was!
My friends enjoyed the news far more than I did, at first anyway. A child is the next most precious thing to “grand-children”, no mistake. But it does take some time to adjust to the “ideal”, at least when you thought it could not happen. It took me until she was every bit of 1 minute old, to “adjust”, then everything was alright in my world.
Our tradition is to open gifts on Christmas Eve, that gives parents the ‘possibility’, of not being rudely aroused from bed at 4 AM on Christmas morning. This year, Christmas morning falls on Sunday. Since we are a church attending family, it will make Sunday morning a lot easier than if we had a gift opening ceremony before breakfast.
Speaking of which, and I don’t want to spoil the holidays with politics, but me being “me” I can’t let “one opinion” pass. Every Christmas over the last few years we are barraged with missiles from the “militant atheist” crowd, as if the very sight of a ‘nativity scene”, in some way “harms their fragile atheist faith”.
There is a irony in Christmas. There are some Christian churches who also are ‘anti-Christmas’, but on different grounds from the atheists. The ‘anti-Christmas’ Christians say, since Jesus was probably not born on Dec. 25, people should not celebrate his “birthday”. They point to lots of other arguments too, which I don’t have time or patience to ramble on about and I am sure, my readers don’t have the time nor patience to read it, even if I did. But here is the irony. In spite of all anti-Christmas and anti-Christ movements throughout history, come next Sunday, all over the world and most especially since the “internet” has now gone to nearly every corner on earth, people will “have to” acknowledge that Jesus Christ lives in the faith of millions of people. On that one day, in all developed countries and in the world generally, the thought of “Jesus” enters peoples mind, whether they consciously like it or not.
My conclusion on the matter is this. It does not matter how or when Christmas came to be celebrated by so many people on earth, the lesson we ought to lean is this, say and believe what you will, but, JESUS ALWAYS WINS!
Personally, and I also assume most people my age have a similar attitude. I feel like I have had “enough surprises” in my lifetime. I say that with a smile in that most of the real ‘surprises’ we get as adults on not in the form of a ‘gift wrapped” package.
This Christmas season we have been pleasantly surprised with MN weather. It is on the tongue and thoughts of everyone. Today it reached almost 40 degrees here in the center of the state. I looked at the 10 day forecast (MSN internet) and nothing much is to change over the next week. Everyday had a 0% chance of precipitation. That is fine by me, I am still rooting for a “Brown Christmas”, to the discuss of many women and children. Give me a break is all I say, I have lived here 24 years and it will be a first, if we see the ground bare on Christmas day. Parts of the state do have snow, but where we are, we are experiencing a “winter drought”, rare, but welcome.
Here is why I think I will pass on “surprises”. In the year 2000 we received the biggest surprise of our lifetimes, speaking of me and my wife. You see, we were 43 years old. Our “only child” had grown up and left home in ‘97. Three years of freedom from raising a child really did me no harm, that I could see. Then in March of 2000 my wife informed me that she would need a “pregnancy test”, that was her mild way of trying to break the “news” to me. I tell you, some things in life are hard to accept as a possible reality, I assumed that was “impossible”. As history proves, my assumption was as wrong as it could be. No matter if I live to be a hundred, I will not receive a bigger surprise than that was!
My friends enjoyed the news far more than I did, at first anyway. A child is the next most precious thing to “grand-children”, no mistake. But it does take some time to adjust to the “ideal”, at least when you thought it could not happen. It took me until she was every bit of 1 minute old, to “adjust”, then everything was alright in my world.
Our tradition is to open gifts on Christmas Eve, that gives parents the ‘possibility’, of not being rudely aroused from bed at 4 AM on Christmas morning. This year, Christmas morning falls on Sunday. Since we are a church attending family, it will make Sunday morning a lot easier than if we had a gift opening ceremony before breakfast.
Speaking of which, and I don’t want to spoil the holidays with politics, but me being “me” I can’t let “one opinion” pass. Every Christmas over the last few years we are barraged with missiles from the “militant atheist” crowd, as if the very sight of a ‘nativity scene”, in some way “harms their fragile atheist faith”.
There is a irony in Christmas. There are some Christian churches who also are ‘anti-Christmas’, but on different grounds from the atheists. The ‘anti-Christmas’ Christians say, since Jesus was probably not born on Dec. 25, people should not celebrate his “birthday”. They point to lots of other arguments too, which I don’t have time or patience to ramble on about and I am sure, my readers don’t have the time nor patience to read it, even if I did. But here is the irony. In spite of all anti-Christmas and anti-Christ movements throughout history, come next Sunday, all over the world and most especially since the “internet” has now gone to nearly every corner on earth, people will “have to” acknowledge that Jesus Christ lives in the faith of millions of people. On that one day, in all developed countries and in the world generally, the thought of “Jesus” enters peoples mind, whether they consciously like it or not.
My conclusion on the matter is this. It does not matter how or when Christmas came to be celebrated by so many people on earth, the lesson we ought to lean is this, say and believe what you will, but, JESUS ALWAYS WINS!
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Legend of the Wooly Worm
Folklore says that the bands of reddish & black on the Wooly Worm can predict how severe the winter will be. In times past many of the older generation put a lot of stock in weather signs from nature, in fact, I know people who still do. After all, they did not have the weather channel or the national weather service, so it is no surprise that they would look to the only information they had available, things in nature.
I am of the generation that is suppose to “know better”, we have “real science” for weather prediction, just think of the millions of dollars a year of our tax money that goes into weather research. But here is the question; are the modern methods any more reliable than the Wooly Worm? Not from what I can tell, leastways for long-term predictions.
So you get a confession. I don’t believe in folklore weather signs, but it never fails that when I come across a Wooly Worm at this time of year I will stop and have a word with it. Just a few days ago while leaving the woods I saw one laying on the ground. I picked it up for a closer look and noticed that the band of black on its head was very short, while the black at the tail end was about 3 times as long. Now if the Wooly Worm is right, this is suppose to mean that we will have a mild beginning of winter (the short band on the head), but a long spell of nasty weather lasting until late in the spring. (the much wider band of black on the tail) I would have liked to ask this fellow a question or two about the big band of black, and would have, but even if he gave me a straight answer, no one would believe me anyway! The part that leaves me “thinking” is that, we have had extremely mild weather for MN at this time of year. Just a dusting of snow so far and none in the 10 day forecast of the National Weather Service. If I judge the Wooly Worm on what I know now, I would have to say he is right about the beginning of the season.
Another confession. I have looked at the Wooly Worm every fall for as long as I can remember, but, for the life of me, I can never remember what the fellow predicts! By the time spring comes to MN, our minds are so numbed from the cold that we have forgotten that there is any such thing as a living insect; except the mosquito, we can never forget what has been called the “Minnesota Air Force”.
Folklore makes an interesting study. Much more interesting than having some ‘weather man’ tell me what the weather will be like, I do remember what he says simply because he is wrong so often and he talks everyday.
Sometimes I think we humans are strange creatures. We look with skepticism at the “wisdom of yesteryear”, just because we don’t see any “science” behind the it, but then we are prone to believe our own weather man when we know for fact that he is wrong about 50% of the time. (Don’t hold me to the 50%, I pulled it out of thin air, but they are wrong a lot.) So who is the wiser, our ancestors who got their Wooly Worm prediction for “free”, or us who “pay” a high price for our weather information?
Then we have the whole global warming debate. The only thing I have to say about that is this; Have the scientists who blame the warming trend that we are obviously in ever read history? Remember George Washington and the Continental Army crossing the Delaware to take Trenton on Christmas night in 1776? There was ice on the Delaware. I tried to find out when the last time that spot had ice, but was unsuccessful, I think it is safe to say it is not very often in the last 100 years. My information for the ice does not come only from the famous picture. Recently I read a journal kept by one of the doctors in the army at that time and he mentions that detail and also the snowstorm that was raging as Washington and the troops marched to take Trenton.
What does that have to do with global warming? One might ask. Only this; it would appear we have been in a gradual warming period a lot longer than what some would have us believe. The reason, they claim, is from our “carbon footprint” (sounds like something out of caveman fiction, carbon footprint). But the warming trend began long before the U.S. had much of a carbon footprint. Come to think of it, I have seen a lot of footprints on the ground, but never one left by an animal called “carbon”. Maybe I will study up on the folklore methods of weather prediction, this science thing sounds a bit like “science fiction”.
I am of the generation that is suppose to “know better”, we have “real science” for weather prediction, just think of the millions of dollars a year of our tax money that goes into weather research. But here is the question; are the modern methods any more reliable than the Wooly Worm? Not from what I can tell, leastways for long-term predictions.
So you get a confession. I don’t believe in folklore weather signs, but it never fails that when I come across a Wooly Worm at this time of year I will stop and have a word with it. Just a few days ago while leaving the woods I saw one laying on the ground. I picked it up for a closer look and noticed that the band of black on its head was very short, while the black at the tail end was about 3 times as long. Now if the Wooly Worm is right, this is suppose to mean that we will have a mild beginning of winter (the short band on the head), but a long spell of nasty weather lasting until late in the spring. (the much wider band of black on the tail) I would have liked to ask this fellow a question or two about the big band of black, and would have, but even if he gave me a straight answer, no one would believe me anyway! The part that leaves me “thinking” is that, we have had extremely mild weather for MN at this time of year. Just a dusting of snow so far and none in the 10 day forecast of the National Weather Service. If I judge the Wooly Worm on what I know now, I would have to say he is right about the beginning of the season.
Another confession. I have looked at the Wooly Worm every fall for as long as I can remember, but, for the life of me, I can never remember what the fellow predicts! By the time spring comes to MN, our minds are so numbed from the cold that we have forgotten that there is any such thing as a living insect; except the mosquito, we can never forget what has been called the “Minnesota Air Force”.
Folklore makes an interesting study. Much more interesting than having some ‘weather man’ tell me what the weather will be like, I do remember what he says simply because he is wrong so often and he talks everyday.
Sometimes I think we humans are strange creatures. We look with skepticism at the “wisdom of yesteryear”, just because we don’t see any “science” behind the it, but then we are prone to believe our own weather man when we know for fact that he is wrong about 50% of the time. (Don’t hold me to the 50%, I pulled it out of thin air, but they are wrong a lot.) So who is the wiser, our ancestors who got their Wooly Worm prediction for “free”, or us who “pay” a high price for our weather information?
Then we have the whole global warming debate. The only thing I have to say about that is this; Have the scientists who blame the warming trend that we are obviously in ever read history? Remember George Washington and the Continental Army crossing the Delaware to take Trenton on Christmas night in 1776? There was ice on the Delaware. I tried to find out when the last time that spot had ice, but was unsuccessful, I think it is safe to say it is not very often in the last 100 years. My information for the ice does not come only from the famous picture. Recently I read a journal kept by one of the doctors in the army at that time and he mentions that detail and also the snowstorm that was raging as Washington and the troops marched to take Trenton.
What does that have to do with global warming? One might ask. Only this; it would appear we have been in a gradual warming period a lot longer than what some would have us believe. The reason, they claim, is from our “carbon footprint” (sounds like something out of caveman fiction, carbon footprint). But the warming trend began long before the U.S. had much of a carbon footprint. Come to think of it, I have seen a lot of footprints on the ground, but never one left by an animal called “carbon”. Maybe I will study up on the folklore methods of weather prediction, this science thing sounds a bit like “science fiction”.
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