Monday, February 4, 2019

Weather and Random Stuff

This was much of yesterday.  It rained!  In February.  Actually, it has been known to snow in February.  We came down to look at real estate in 2006 (I think) and it snowed and it was really cold.  Tucson has zero implements to deal with snow.  The entire city pretty much shut down.


Later the sun came out and lit up the palm trees.  I love seeing that.




There is an ocotillo on the other side of the wall.  It looks dead, doesn't it.  It'll come back to life, grow leaves and bloom before long.  There is a hummingbird sitting at the top.  There was a lot of zoom being used on the point and shoot so he's pretty indistinct.  I'm not sure if it's an Annas or not.


Here are a couple of random photos from Tucson.  There is a style of bicycle racing that is done on a track.  It's a sprinter's event, short bursts of high intensity effort are required.  To win, you need to get your opponent in front of you, so that you can draft (ride in his slip stream) and save energy.  Then you come from behind at the line and win.  To do this, everyone must be able to balance, un-moving, on their bikes on a steeply sloped oval track.  This is called a track stand.   Eventually someone will go, and generally the guy who is drafting wins.  This person was seen in Tucson, doing a perfect track stand.  He's not wobbling, or moving back and forth, he's just motionless.  It was a thing of beauty.


This just tickles me.   Look at the bottom sign.  Who doesn't want to take up knife fighting?  Sign me up!


This is what they woke up to in Seattle today.  They got six inches.  People on Twitter have been bashing Seattle's inability to drive in snow all day.  What they forget is that it rarely snows in Puget Sound.  There are no fleets of plows and sanding trucks.  Generally they do some de-icing of the bridges, but there's no concerted effort like there is in Chicago.  Plus, the area was carved by glaciers.  It's not just hilly, it's steep, like 12 to 15% grades in places.  Getting off of Queen Anne Hill is just harrowing in these conditions. 


Our rain is supposed to stop today.  However, Wednesday it's supposed to go down to 29 which means we'll be covering the non-natives and the new lemon tree.  I think this is going on record as the worst winter (that we have been here) ever.

7 comments:

  1. Thats a lovely light on the trees, February here often gives excellent light for photographs. Although I've never ridden on a track I've tried to balance at lights... but useless.
    Interesting sign about the knife fighting sessions and I wonder if it would be allowed here, as we have a big problem with stabbings and knife crime in cities.

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  2. Perfect balance ... love it! It definitely has been a cold winter here. Hoping this isn't a sign of things to come!!

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  3. Bummer about the temps going down -- but there's only about a month more to go before you'll be out of the woods, I would think!

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  4. Worst winter in Tucson...wow! I remember our first winter on the road (2012-2013) and it snowed in Tucson.

    When we had snow on 12/31 in Prescott there were many accidents...and of course everyone wanted to blame the Californians who cannot drive in the snow. For the record, we did not go out driving in it!!! We're expecting a little rain then snow here in the next 24 hours.

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    1. Yes it did! I had forgotten that. At least it hasn't snowed this winter, but the wind and the low temperatures are just annoying!

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  5. Wow, that cyclist's track stand is impressive. Not impressed, however, with the all-black getup. I wouldn't dare ride in that, with today's distracted drivers. It's high-viz for me, all the way! It's been a colder than normal winter in Florida as well. I think we picked the perfect time to come to Mexico. :)

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  6. Could be a "Movie Day" here in rainy Oro Valley...thinking of "The Mule," with Clint Eastwood.
    Box Canyon

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