Fredericton
See Ya Later, Earl
04/09/10 18:31 Filed in: Personal
It's now 6:30 p.m. and outside we've got bright blue
skies, sunshine and strong winds. It looks like we've
taken the worst ol' Earl could dish out (at least to
us, I think Nova Scotia is getting it a lot worse)
and survived.
Nasty moments, though. At 3:43, we heard a bang that sounded like a bomb went off somewhere nearby and all the power died. I stepped out onto the street to find neighbours looking at each other, at the hydro poles and wondering. Fortunately, the rain had tapered off by then so, instead of bemoaning the loss of TV tennis coverage, we decided to take advantage of the dry spell to take Marlee for an extended walk.
Got back just in time for the winds to kick it up a notch and the rains to return, so we had a cold snack and sat in the living room chatting. A nice way to spend the late afternoon, to be honest.
Two NB Power trucks rolled up to the hydro pole across the street from our house at about 6 p.m. and, by 6:10, the power came back on and we were back in business. It might have taken them 135 minutes to get here but they fixed the problem in just 10 more minutes so I'm not complaining.
I just checked the weather radar on the Environment Canada website and it looks like we're through the rain for good. So now we have cooler temps, less humidity and bright blue skies. I guess I should simply say, "Thanks, Earl, for dropping by and taking care of the heat and humidity. We're glad to have had a chance to meet you!"
Nasty moments, though. At 3:43, we heard a bang that sounded like a bomb went off somewhere nearby and all the power died. I stepped out onto the street to find neighbours looking at each other, at the hydro poles and wondering. Fortunately, the rain had tapered off by then so, instead of bemoaning the loss of TV tennis coverage, we decided to take advantage of the dry spell to take Marlee for an extended walk.
Got back just in time for the winds to kick it up a notch and the rains to return, so we had a cold snack and sat in the living room chatting. A nice way to spend the late afternoon, to be honest.
Two NB Power trucks rolled up to the hydro pole across the street from our house at about 6 p.m. and, by 6:10, the power came back on and we were back in business. It might have taken them 135 minutes to get here but they fixed the problem in just 10 more minutes so I'm not complaining.
I just checked the weather radar on the Environment Canada website and it looks like we're through the rain for good. So now we have cooler temps, less humidity and bright blue skies. I guess I should simply say, "Thanks, Earl, for dropping by and taking care of the heat and humidity. We're glad to have had a chance to meet you!"
An Hour With Earl
04/09/10 14:46 Filed in: Personal
2:45 p.m. and Earl is with us. A kinder, gentler Earl
than we expected. Lots of rain, a little bit of wind.
Nothing major.
Since our dog doesn't like to go out when it's raining, I had to cajole her into the back yard to get her to do her business and stop bothering me. So I threw on a light pair of shorts, a quick-dry tee-shirt and my flip flops and braved the torrent. Actually, it turned out to be quite fun. I wish our bathroom shower had that kind of force. And, after all the recent heat, it was fantastic to be drenched with cool water. I spent an hour out there and finally got Marlee Marie to play fetch with me for a while. And, thankfully, to do other things as well.
I had thought I'd try to take some photos of the storm to post here but it's not all that dramatic. Any pictures I'd take would look, well, like my yard on any other rainy day.
Oh well. I guess we'll stay inside for the rest of the day and wait it out. Or, maybe, I'll go for another romp in the rain.
Since our dog doesn't like to go out when it's raining, I had to cajole her into the back yard to get her to do her business and stop bothering me. So I threw on a light pair of shorts, a quick-dry tee-shirt and my flip flops and braved the torrent. Actually, it turned out to be quite fun. I wish our bathroom shower had that kind of force. And, after all the recent heat, it was fantastic to be drenched with cool water. I spent an hour out there and finally got Marlee Marie to play fetch with me for a while. And, thankfully, to do other things as well.
I had thought I'd try to take some photos of the storm to post here but it's not all that dramatic. Any pictures I'd take would look, well, like my yard on any other rainy day.
Oh well. I guess we'll stay inside for the rest of the day and wait it out. Or, maybe, I'll go for another romp in the rain.
Waiting for Earl
04/09/10 08:30 Filed in: Personal
It's 8:31 a.m. here in Freddie. I'm sitting in a
slowly cooling house, listening to the wind in the
aspens in our backyard, waiting for Earl.
Hurricane Earl.
Environment Canada says I should expect him to arrive at around 9 a.m., now just 28 minutes away. They also tell me he's less scary than expected and has veered a little east, meaning we won't see quite as high winds but more rain.
The possibility is for up to 70 millimetres of rain to fall in the Fredericton area in the next 24 hours.
We're ready. We're excited to know the temperature and humidex will finally fall off after a sweltering week. We've packed up everything in the backyard (stacked the patio chairs, flipped the table so that it won't blow, tucked them into the car port, things like that) and we've got the right windows open and the right windows closed.
We have no plans for the day. So blow, Earl, blow.
I'm happy to watch the rain, listen to the wind and read my books. Can't expect the satellite signal to reach our TV, though, so watching the US Open or the golf may be out of the question.
Oh well. Okay, it's now 24 minutes to Earl and the birds outside are raising a bit of a ruckus. Lots of chirping and "picking". I guess Earl's really coming.
Hurricane Earl.
Environment Canada says I should expect him to arrive at around 9 a.m., now just 28 minutes away. They also tell me he's less scary than expected and has veered a little east, meaning we won't see quite as high winds but more rain.
The possibility is for up to 70 millimetres of rain to fall in the Fredericton area in the next 24 hours.
We're ready. We're excited to know the temperature and humidex will finally fall off after a sweltering week. We've packed up everything in the backyard (stacked the patio chairs, flipped the table so that it won't blow, tucked them into the car port, things like that) and we've got the right windows open and the right windows closed.
We have no plans for the day. So blow, Earl, blow.
I'm happy to watch the rain, listen to the wind and read my books. Can't expect the satellite signal to reach our TV, though, so watching the US Open or the golf may be out of the question.
Oh well. Okay, it's now 24 minutes to Earl and the birds outside are raising a bit of a ruckus. Lots of chirping and "picking". I guess Earl's really coming.
A Bit of a Vacay
The family has arrived. With four guests in our house
for the past five days and two more on the way to
join us tomorrow, we've been having a fun, busy time.
We had planned to go to the Hopewell Rocks on the Bay
of Fundy today but the weather has gotten in the way.
So it's a quiet day for catching up on sleep and
nosing around Fredericton, I guess.
We went whale watching on Tuesday, down in St.
Andrews by the Sea. This was my second experience
with the whales and trip two was just as fantastic as
trip one. Our first visit, we went out on the zodiac,
which was very exciting. This time, we went out on
the catamaran of Quoddy Link Marine, a more sedate
trip but just as great. We saw lots of amazing
things, including minke and finback whales close up
(within 20 feet of the boat), harbour porpoises,
harbour seals, grey seals and black guillemots.
Really quite amazing.
Of course taking pictures of whales is not as
easy as you might think, given their massive size.
Sometimes, all you get is their spray but, at other
times, you're lucky enough to get much of the back
and the fin. We all had a blast on the trip and it
might just happen that some of us go again when the
other members of the family arrive.
Other adventures so far include bowling at Kingswood, the place where I play golf. We never did solve the mystery of the candlestick pins but had a lot of fun trying. We've wandered Fredericton and have plans to visit the beach at Mactaquac as well as Kings Landing at some point during the visit.
On a birding note, Patti came across a little fellow nestled in the grass under our dining room window. It would seem he knocked himself loopy by flying into the glass. We scooped him up to keep him safe from predators and then placed him in a box with food, water and some cedar leaves to give him time to recover. We're happy to report that the little guy enjoyed a brief stay in our bird hotel and then, his wits recovered, flew off into the world again. Nice to see a happy ending.
Now if I could only make a definite ID on the kind of bird he is. I know, pathetic that I can't figure it out with such a clear picture! If anyone out there can help me, I'd very much appreciate it. I've taken a quick look through my various books but I'm not getting anywhere. He's got a little yellow patch on his upper back, yellow on his chest and white patches on his wings. Otherwise, he seems to be black/grey/olive all over. And he's tiny, no more than four inches. Help!!!
Other adventures so far include bowling at Kingswood, the place where I play golf. We never did solve the mystery of the candlestick pins but had a lot of fun trying. We've wandered Fredericton and have plans to visit the beach at Mactaquac as well as Kings Landing at some point during the visit.
On a birding note, Patti came across a little fellow nestled in the grass under our dining room window. It would seem he knocked himself loopy by flying into the glass. We scooped him up to keep him safe from predators and then placed him in a box with food, water and some cedar leaves to give him time to recover. We're happy to report that the little guy enjoyed a brief stay in our bird hotel and then, his wits recovered, flew off into the world again. Nice to see a happy ending.
Now if I could only make a definite ID on the kind of bird he is. I know, pathetic that I can't figure it out with such a clear picture! If anyone out there can help me, I'd very much appreciate it. I've taken a quick look through my various books but I'm not getting anywhere. He's got a little yellow patch on his upper back, yellow on his chest and white patches on his wings. Otherwise, he seems to be black/grey/olive all over. And he's tiny, no more than four inches. Help!!!