If the sky’s going to keep lobbing softballs up there for me to hit, I’ll keep swinging!
Category Archives: Weather
On The Edge Of A Summer Storm Cell
We don’t get a lot of these in La-La Land, but I try to enjoy them when we do.
I was trying to get home in time to close the windows on the van – the heavy rain started when I was about three blocks away. As it does.
After running around and getting damp, I went back in for one of the good cameras and an umbrella. (These shots are from the cell phone – the “best” camera is the one you have in your hand when you need to take the picture.)
It only rained hard for about ten minutes, then passed on to our west, part of a whole lot of tropical moisture wrapping itself counterclockwise around a low somewhere way to the south of us. That put “our” shower between us and the sun at sunset – we know what that means!
(Image: National Weather Service)
There was some thunder heard while I was out there, which makes sense given that bright red and orange and yellow spot over house at about that time.
Filed under Photography, Weather
Sky Archipelago
That’s wide open airspace out in that direction – time to get an ultralight or glider and go island hopping!
Filed under Photography, Weather
Beams Of Sun
No rain, but lots of high, broken clouds in just the right places at sunset.
Filed under Photography, Weather
Sunset Don’t Know…
…that the world’s on fire.
It’s just a sunset…
…doing what a sunset…
…has got to do.
The rabbits were out in force tonight on the lawn while I was taking these.
Do the rabbits ever look up with awe and wonder at the sunset?
We’re stuck between the rabbits and the sunsets…
…aware and intelligent enough to appreciate and recognize their beauty, but too short sighted and stupid to bother to watch because we’re busy destroying the planet and our society.
Filed under Castle Willett, Photography, Weather
Blue Sky, Pink Clouds, White Moon
The moon was two days shy of being full tonight, which has it rising above the house into a twilight blue sky.
Above was a layer of clouds turning pink in the sunset.
Behind me, out of the west, I could hear a big jet on the way into Burbank, swinging way around to the west over Ventura County before heading straight in to Runway 8.
As the clouds began to fade to grey, the UPS Cargo 757 lined up and vanished into the east.
In minutes, the pink and blue faded, leaving only the cold, white reflected light from the lunar surface.
Filed under Astronomy, Flying, Photography, Weather
Spring Thunderstorm
We had a couple of lines of fairly strong thunderstorms move though SoCal today, which is fine…
…except we don’t get spring thunderstorms in Southern California. Let alone a couple of inches of snow up at Lake Arrowhead and Big Bear.
The problem, of course, being that reality doesn’t give a shit about what we expect or what hasn’t ever happened in the past.
If you choose to believe that climate change isn’t real or that human activity isn’t causing it or that it isn’t nearly as serious as “the left-wing fear mongers” make it out to be or that it’s a conspiracy to cripple American industry or whatever, and you choose to believe that for political and ideological reasons in the face of an overwhelming avalanche of evidence, that’s your right.
It’s my right to point out that you probably are either A) a cult member (i.e., a Republican), B) a freaking idiot, or C) both. “C” is the most likely. It’s also my right to ask you to take a long hike off of a short pier. Go away.
I will not debate reality with you. This does not mean that I’ve got a problem with free speech, nor does it mean that I’m somehow afraid to “debate” the facts with you. It means that you’re trying to argue that 2+2=328,281.54 which means you’re mentally ill. Life’s too short for me to put up with that sort of bullshit. Your pursuit of status in your psychotic cult is not something for which I owe you my time.
Would you like me to tell you how I REALLY feel about it?
Meanwhile, I’ll be out watching the rain and listening to the thunder. I do like thunderstorms. Even the ones that are thinly veiled harbingers of doom.
Filed under Freakin' Idiots!, Moral Outrage, Panorama, Photography, Weather
Whisp O’ Blue Moon
The first edges of a storm were moving in this afternoon, drifting through the bluest of blue skies and fighting with the quarter-full daytime moon.
Moments like this are why I love having a high-quality digital camera in my pocket just about 24/7. The fact that it can also be used as a supercomputer and a phone are just gravy.
Filed under Astronomy, Photography, Space, Weather
Wind & Moon
We’ve been dealing with some high winds in SoCal today. In our area, it’s been pretty steady 15-20 knots, with gusts to 30, 35, even 40 knots. There have been moments with some real blasts.
Lots of leaves, branches, palm fronds, and debris blowing about. The power was out for a while last night. There were plenty of stop lights dead and fouling traffic on the morning commute.
It was a good day to not be flying into or out of Van Nuys, Burbank, or Whiteman. But the winds sure left the sky clear at sunset!
Listen to those wind chimes go! We’ll be hearing them all night.
Filed under Photography, Weather
Too Soon Coming
That’s a view to the east…
There’s a reason I don’t see many of these. When you’re almost always up until after midnight, and often until almost 01:00, one of these is way too soon coming.
I need my beauty sleep!
Filed under Photography, Weather
We Love The Stars Too Fondly 