Look at that! Nearly two years to the day from when I last posted on this page. Bleh. Working on that is definitely one of my goals for... well, for the near future.

Anyway, this post isn't about writing something well. It's about wishing I'd had the ability to capture something words can hardly describe. It happened on the flight back west from a recent trip to the east coast. Due to the time we were flying, the plane was essentially flying at the same speed as the encroaching sunset. I say "essentially" because the sun was, inevitably, outrunning us. But the view I had from my unusual window seat was absolutely unforgettable. (It was unusual because I rarely get to sit at the window.) The white thunderheads in the distance, penetrating above the vast sea of white cumulus and stratocumulus in the lower atmosphere... the gradual shift in color from white to pink to orange... the way the lower level clouds appeared to literally catch fire as the plane passed overhead... oh, if only I'd had a camera with me! I have a (pathetic) camera on my cell phone, but alas, on the plane it couldn't be used.

But that has now changed! My wonderful husband found a new camera for me, and I was able to order it today. Here's to a brighter future of more glorious (glorious to me, at least) weather photography to land on this site! (Overall, a not-so-interesting post, but it's been a while, and I'm very excited about this new addition to our electronic gadget collection!)



Right now, it's raining, with occasional booms and cracks of thunder. (I use stronger words here than "rumbles" or "echoes" because the thunder is simply that close. It's great!) The thunderheads were gorgeous this afternoon in the heat of the day, dominating the overhead vista like huge collections of billowing white cotton. Sometimes, here, they develop so quickly you can watch them grow.

Yes, I like thunderstorms. Thus, living in the southwest U.S. during the monsoon season gives me many chances to hang out with these beautiful, though powerful, events. Especially compared to the Pacific Northwest.

Why do we get so many thunderstorms during this part of the year? The monsoon brings low-level moisture into an arid, hot region with uneven terrain. Afternoon heating and/or forced uplift of air (usually from mountains) spawns the development of cumulonimbus clouds, which can develop into isolated t-storms or large groups of them, depending on the local and regional conditions. Thunderstorms are most common in the afternoon, but they can peak in the morning or evening as well. We were kept up late one Sunday night due to a strong storm that started at 10:30pm and had lightning (and thunder) so frequently it felt like we were in a packed stadium, not our little apartment.

Unfortunately, other baggage comes attached to the more interesting weather. Read more...



So, you're probably going to get a lot of posts from me about driving and traffic. All right, well, not a lot, but I thought I'd exaggerate for the sake of warning fairly. Fairly warned? Good? I'll (finally) move on now.

I commute about 10 miles to and from campus every day. That may not sound like a lot to some people, but for someone who always lived within walking distance of school for her entire undergraduate career, it's a big deal. (And, since I'm an Oregonian, it troubles me how much CO2 and other goodies I'm putting out every day due to said driving. For one of my physical meteorology assignments we had to figure out how much CO2 was emitted per year by a car using up x amount of gasoline, and it was absolutely disgusting, heightening my sense of personal polluting even further. But I digress.)

Let's return to the actual topic: that of driving in the midst of many other cars every day. These other cars are fine, a mix of sedans, sporty cars, SUVs, all that good stuff, but the drivers are a problem at times. I may not live in California, but as far as the driving stereotype goes, I might as well be.

However, I'm not going to go off about discourteous drivers in general. No, I'm going to discuss one driver in particular: Mr. Newer-Looking Altima Driver (Mr. Altima for short). Read more...