Tag Archives: climate

Hot today in the Twin Cities, like 90 degrees hot.

Makes me wish for our signature season, the glorious winter when life here is good, the grass isn’t growing, I’m not tempted to offend friends and family with my disgusting Popeye Calves, not cankles mind you, just gross calves and finally I don’t have to watch hordes of red faces office workers waiting for busses downtown in suits and ties because certain employers are run by people to drive from air conditioned garages to air conditioned garages, ignoring the bottom 99% who are in steerage on the public transport.

And finally I’ve read that the heat makes some people crabby, at least I don’t have to worry about that. My sunny disposition is unaffected by heat and humidity. So much so that I’m inclined to go out for a nice walk after dinner this evening except… that it’s to Gawd Damned HOT outside. Man Id like a little snow about right now.

Or a Coors Light.

I know gross, but it’s better than water. Kinda.

With all this heat and humidity of course we’ve enjoyed our share of severe weather. Good friend of mine, Minnesota Native who I’ve known for the last 17 years I’ve lived here, matter of fact she’s responsible for me moving here, one said to me “the weather here is ‘intense’”. Well said.

But this year, our winter was a non factor, about as intense as an episode of Mary Tyler Moore. Another Minnesota Original. BTW, aside from weather this isn’t exactly a bastion of intense anything, pepper for example, is a spice. We do get a little passionate about politics, but even the Tea Party here is a gentler shade of radical as they were mostly able to give up their dogma and support a massive stadium taxpayer screw job.

It’s been a couple weeks and I want to keep that issue alive, thanks for traveling down that path with me.

Anyway, last night I had a dream that there were people taking pictures of me, lots of pictures, more and more and the I woke up and realized that the pictures were in fact, incessant flashes of lightning outside my bedroom window. Literally non-stop for about an hour. At some point something struck the ground in the neighborhood, we had one of those deals where the flash and massive BOOM occur at precisely the same instant. Last time that happened two houses up the street from us caught fire. This time I there was no evidence of the hit. Well something happened, I was rocked out of the bed and the dog pissed himself. Notable since he was lying on the foot of the bed at the time.

Still, no damage that I could discern, other than to my down comforter.

This was not the case to the south of us. In Lakeville, the white flight suburb where people in Apple Valley who do well aspire to move too, or as I like to say, the folks on top of the hill, sustained considerable damage. A friend of mine described a neighbors trampoline that was literally blown apart by the storm, pieced of which came into his bedroom window and imbedded themselves into his siding. Sounds like a tornado to me, but the NWS says no. 85MPH winds.

That’s why I like to keep my trampoline in the bedroom where it belongs. That’s where the gymnastics happen after all.

In my little world anyway.

What we did get, instead of trees downs, because frankly I think the easy trees have all fallen down around our house, thanks to previous storms. Instead we had a torrent of water pouring off the house and through the yard relocating about a yard and a half of mulch from the flowerbed.

Not that I didn’t see it coming. I’ve been suggesting for a while now that the next 100 year storm we’d have problems with run off. Now that we’ve about 3 100 year storms in the last couple weeks I’m happy to report that I was right.

Well not happy that what I thought would happen happen, but quite happy to be right cause that, doesn’t happen to often.

Tonight economists weather forecasters have called for more storms, more excitement and more intense weather. Whoo boy baby.