Tag Archives: weather

This One Life

I’m really still a kid at heart. And I like snow days…nature_3

The phone rang a little before six this morning. School delayed…an hour later, cancelled.

This teacher is happy, and so is this mom. It doesn’t mean that I don’t have plenty to do around here, it just means I can do it at my own pace.

Today that means, slower.

I hear the television playing in the living room, and the washer filling with water in the laundry room. The hum of the refrigerator is quietly playing in the background, of a house filled with daily noise.

I need to do laundry, feed the animals, work on my blog, start my new online class on autism, prepare for Bible study, read…and make some chocolate chip cookies.

But, I stop and take time to look out the window.

The gray-white sky melts into the snow-white ground. Only sharp and boney limbs of barren trees reach into the wind. Some say winter is harsh, and cold and they wish for warmer weather.

I, on the other hand, choose to see the beauty in this season. The other night the snow shown like silver glitter in the moonlight. It was breathtaking, really. The gray clouds are immense as they scud across the sky. The cold wind is harsh, that is true, but it makes my cheeks rosy and alive.

Winter is a time of waiting. Slowing down.

And don’t we all go through winters in our lives?

Without the cold, how can I appreciate the warm? In not too many weeks the snow will be completely gone, and the spring mud will take its place.

Life will be resurrected in the green of new grass, crops planted in straight lines, bulbs bursting forth through wet ground…stretching towards the sun.

And don’t we all need that? To stretch towards The Son?

To enjoy and appreciate this one life we have been given?

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Snowing Again

The Gypsy Mama

1. Write for 5 minutes flat – no editing, no over thinking, no backtracking.
2. Link back here and invite others to join in.
3. And then absolutely, no ifs, ands or buts about it, you need to visit the person who linked up before you & encourage them in their comments. Seriously. That is, like, the rule. And the fun. And the heart of this community..

Oh and Ahem, if you would take pity and turn off comment verification, it would make leaving some love on your post that much easier for folks!

OK, are you ready? Please give us your best five minutes on:::

Again…

*******************************************************

It’s snowing again.

White, fluffy flakes floating down to the earth.

Winter is here, and I can feel it give birth….

to crisp, cold air. Drifting snow…

and bundling up, with no place to go.

Blankets of white fold into the ground

The hush of snow, a quiet sound.

Snowed trees on mount Brocken, Harz, Germany

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Trusting In The Midst

Category F5 tornado (upgraded from initial est...

I am a bonafide weather geek. No doubt about it. I have NOAA and The Weather Channel on my computer. I love watching Storm Stories and am fascinated by the Weather in Motion maps, so that I am able to track storms in real time. Weather is a tricky business, and it can change at the last second…sparing one area, devastating another. People think they can predict what will happen days in advance…but, it’s all just an educated guess, isn’t it?

I don’t trust the meteorologists. It’s nothing personal, it’s just that they are not God. They cannot know, not really.

Tomorrow the area of the Mid-West that I live in is in the “red zone” for severe weather, dangerous winds, possible tornadoes.

I can “batten down the hatches” at my house.  I can listen to the news. I can track the storms on my computer. I can try and be prepared, but I cannot trust that I alone can handle the storms that come my way. I can’t. I never could. Oh, I try, but, ultimately I am defenseless in the wake of the strong winds, crashing waves, and utter darkness of this life.

I do know someone that I can trust. Completely.

The One who can calm storms with the very sound of His voice. Sometimes He chooses to calm the storm and no one gets hurt. At other times the storms rage wild, life is torn to bits, people die. We ask the question that hangs heavy on the brokenhearted…..”God, where are You?”

He is there, in the midst. He never left. He never will.

Tragedy happens in this life. There are few of us that have never wept the tears of grief and pain. It is part of the human condition.

Storms do come. They will continue to come. I choose to cling to the Rock that holds steady through the strongest storms of this broken world.

Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High
   will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
 I will say of the LORD, “He is my refuge and my fortress,
   my God, in whom I trust.”  Psalm 91

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It’s A Snow Globe World

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There is something about snow that I love.

A certain hush falls on the outside, for a few brief moments.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It covers all the dirt, and makes even the most mundane things…

beautiful.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Snow softens the world, as it’s whiteness wraps all, in a blanket of stillness.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And creates a snow globe haze that seems… magical.

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Enjoying my Saturday and wishing  joy for you this day, my friends.

He says to the snow, ‘Fall on the earth,’
   and to the rain shower, ‘Be a mighty downpour.’  Job 37:6  NIV

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Weathering Life

Lightning

The morning sun pours in through the windows and puddles golden on the floor. It is a bright morning following a stormy night. The lightness is in direct contrast to the steel gray of last night’s weather. I think that life, in general, is a lot like the weather.

*we can try and plan outdoor activities, schedule things on the calendar….but, sometimes it rains and plans change.

*storms are unpredictable, and sometimes scary….but, they don’t last forever.

*as much as we enjoy the sunshine, we need the rain. Rain helps things to grow.

*sun is important and our body needs it for good health and for our moods, but too much sunshine and we get hurt.

*Sunshine and rain are both important in nature…and in life.

Enjoy the sunny times of life, appreciate them. Embrace them. Remember them.

But, also remember that every life is going to have rain…need rain. Learn to weather the storms. Hang on tight. Ride them out.

Both sunshine and rain help you to grow.

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-thank you God, for the sunshine and the rain

-puddles of sunlight

-doggie licks

-the smell of coffee

-holding hands

-good morning hugs

-friendship

-good ideas

-comfy pajamas

-a fresh start to a new week

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Weather Geek In Action

NOAA

Image via Wikipedia

I have told people on more than one occasion that I am a die hard weather geek. I have to check out the NOAA page several times a day. One never knows when the weather might change. I have to be prepared after all.

1. I checked the NOAA page this morning per my normal routine.

2. I saw, in bright red letters, HAZARDOUS STORM WARNING.

3. Oh, the excitement.

4. There could possibly, maybe, sorta, kinda be a storm that might push into Ohio this weekend.

5. It’s always “possibly” because we all know weather is an exact science.

6. There is no doubt the temps will plummet to HIGHS in the teens.

7. With wind. That is the killer.

8. Just don’t know how much snow is on the way……

9. Our first snow of the season was on December 1.

10. It has flurried and been freezing cold, every day since.

11. Omen for the rest of the winter?

12. A possible storm on the way.

13. You know what this means, don’t you?

14. A trip to the grocery store.

15. I have to lay up provisions. In case we are stuck in the house until the Spring thaw.

16. We at least need hot chocolate and plenty of ingredients for cookie making.

17. With that, we could pull through until the Spring.

18. Or at least until a snow plow comes down our road.

19. After all my family has priorities.

20. If I was trapped in the house all winter with my family without hot chocolate and cookies, it would be bad.

***I would end up like the Jack Nicholson character in The Shining. We all know THAT didn’t end well.***

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Ice, Anyone?

  • This is what NOAA reported today:
...HEAT ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 8 PM EDT THIS EVENING...

TEMPERATURES IN THE UPPER 80S TO AROUND 90 DEGREES WERE FOUND
ACROSS THE OHIO VALLEY AT NOON. COMBINED WITH DEWPOINTS IN THE MID
70S...HEAT INDICIES ARE ALREADY IN THE UPPER 90S AND LOW 100S. AS
TEMPERATURES RISE INTO THE MID 90S...HEAT INDEX VALUES WILL TOP OUT
BETWEEN 100 AND 105 THIS AFTERNOON.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... PEOPLE ARE ADVISED TO AVOID
PROLONGED WORK IN SUN...OR IN POORLY VENTILATED AREAS. ALSO...
KEEP PLENTY OF LIQUIDS ON HAND AND TRY TO STAY IN AN AIR
CONDITIONED ENVIRONMENT. CHILDREN...THE ELDERLY AND PEOPLE WITH
CHRONIC AILMENTS ARE USUALLY THE FIRST TO SUFFER FROM THE HEAT.
HEAT EXHAUSTION...CRAMPS...OR IN EXTREME CASES HEAT STROKE CAN
RESULT FROM PROLONGED EXPOSURE TO THESE CONDITIONS. FRIENDS...
RELATIVES...OR NEIGHBORS SHOULD CHECK ON PEOPLE WHO MAY BE AT
RISK.
That's it people. The National Weather Service has given me permission
 to stay inside in the air conditioning and drink iced tea.
Who am I to go against them? After all my health could be at risk if
 I do. I think this calls for extraordinary measures. Lots of
iced drinks, freezer pops, cool compresses, air conditioning,
 and maybe a Christmas movie to make me think of snow. It's a 
sacrifice on this hot as the blazes, summer day. But, I'm willing 
to do it, 'cause that is just the kind of gal I am:)