A Slower Pace

When Jim Cantore of the Weather Channel shows up in your city, it’s probably not gonna be a party…..unless you are storm chasers. We are actually “storm chasing” from our front porch right now — there are tornadoes on the ground a few counties north in Indiana and another huge line of storms west of here between Evansville and Louisville.

You know it’s serious when the local weather geeks are concerned. They even let school out early and told most people to go home and get off the roads.

“Our atmosphere is what we call ‘loaded’ meaning that there is lots of energy and potential for tornadic activity.” — WDRB Mark Weinberg

My wife already has dinner ready and we are taking Toto and everything else down to the basement. See ya on the back side.

…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net

Usually when you are looking up at the clouds and seeing different shapes and things, you are really pushing your imagination. However, take a look at the picture below. It was shared by a Facebook friend and it doesn’t take much of an imagination to trace out the Bluegrass State of Kentucky in the cloud.

Pretty cool!

UPDATE: check out the comments below by Carl Williams. You can go to gMaps and try your hand at cyber-sleuthing. Below is the picture I frame-grabbed from google maps and they appear to match up, especially if the picture was taken in the driveway of the animal clinic (which google maps doesn’t have a vantage point of). Even the number of power lines match up.

…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net

I blogged a week ago about the non-winter we are enjoying. Unfortunately, it was not to last. A system blew in yesterday that brought an inch of snow (which is no big deal) and 15F degree temps (which IS a big deal). Add on top of that 30-50mph winds and if you were outside you were miserable. The cold, frigid wind cuts right through you.

Supposedly this will only last a few days. Monday is supposed to get up to 50F. Because I am off work, I sure hope so.

…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net

I am proud to live in Kentucky when I see actions like this.

Kentucky Call To Prayer Day — www.calltoprayerkentucky.com

…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net

Scientifically, global warming has been shown to, at best, be myopically focused on incomplete science. And while I am not here to debate the specifics, I welcome the warmer winter we have had here in Kentucky. So far we have only had one or two cold snaps (defined by me as multiple days below 32F freezing throughout the day). And let’s face it – when it’s 10F or 20F degrees for multiple days in a row, the weather just sucks. And last year we had that condition for a few weeks on end with no breaks. So I have come to dread winters.

But this year has been a welcome change. Outside of the few cold snaps described above we have had temps in the 40’s and 50’s. Some night time temps dropped below freezing while some daytime temps have hit 60F. How nice is that? And with multiple days of bright sunshine to boot, I really can’t complain about this winter so far. In fact, I even ate lunch outside in the 45F sunshine last week. Granted, I had a jacket on and had to come in after a while, but it was tolerable and nice to be outside in the sunshine — something that normally can’t be done in Kentucky this time of year.

As far as the winter weather, it could even change and dump a foot of snow and I would be OK with that. Even if it’s cold from here until Spring, we are already ahead of the game.

…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net

Well, winter 2011 is now upon us. It is Dec 22 and today is the winter solstice and the first day of winter. So far, it has been quite mild. We had a cold snap a few weeks ago but it has mostly been in the 40’s and 50’s – definitely manageable for Kentucky in December. Last year at this time we had already had snow six times with three times of it sticking for 19 days. So far this year we have not had any snow at all. While my son is not happy, I can live with it.

We’ll see how the Kentucky 2011/2012 snow season goes. Below is a summary of what I captured for 2010/2011:

• 12 days of snow
• 9 times it stuck
• 7 times it stuck for longer than a day
• 36 days with snow on the ground

While it ain’t California, I am glad it’s not Minnesota or Michigan. I agree with someone I heard recently who said “This is the farthest north I am ever living”.

Also, below is the Farmer’s Almanac prediction.

…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net

Today is our 7 year anniversary in Kentucky. I look back on that time with amazement — that God led us here; that we moved during the Christmas season; that we moved here cold turkey without knowing a soul. And to think that we have lived in our house here in Kentucky longer than we lived in our house in Thousand Oaks, CA. And that K and D have actually lived more of their lives here in Kentucky than in California.

I am so incredibly blessed I don’t know where to begin.

2005 – 1 year

2006 – 2 years

2008 – 4 years

2010 – 6 years

And 7 is a blessed number. I look forward to what our 7th year in Kentucky holds.

…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net

Damn it’s cold outside! Just yesterday, we had severe winds blowing 72 degree air around as a line of super cells bared down on the area spawning over 30 tornadoes in a 5 state area. Very unusual for November. Now that the cold front has moved through we see 22F degrees at night. Brrrr! This is the part of the year I was not looking forward to.

…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net

Well, it’s early November and go figure…..we hit about 70F today with an expected 75F tomorrow. It almost feels like CA during the winter. We had a cold snap there for a while but things have temporarily warmed back up. The kids were outside for PE today playing basketball and riding my new mountain bike that they now call theirs. My oldest daughter even took it down by the front creek where I cut some new trails through the trees. Speaking of which, I took the bike out last night out back right at about dusk time. I was on the grass speeding down a small incline towards a trail through the trees so I wasn’t making much noise. But as soon as I hit the trail, the bike tires began crunching all the leaves on the ground. I came to a stop soon after to just admire the quiet like I usually do. However, I had startled all the wildlife down there. I heard about 4 or 5 deer scampering away, their white tails surrendering their retreating positions through the trees. A couple of squirrels darted up a tree and a raccoon hurdled the dry creek bed to safety. All I heard were crunching of leaves as the animals departed. I thought that was interesting in that I thought wild animals tended to be more alert than that.

…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net

Today was the last full day my folks were here. We decided to have a late breakfast and head out east towards the capital of Kentucky — Frankfort. There we first started off with a tour of the Rebecca Ruth Candy Factory. They’ve been around since 1919 and have a fascinating history. It was very interesting to see their operations and get to taste their samples. They were the original inventors of the bourbon ball. Now I am not one for liquor in candy but I sampled one and had to get a bag of their boo-boo balls — the rejects from the line. They are a unique and very Kentucky gift. If you are ever in town, give them a visit or order from them online.

We then hit the Frankfort Cemetery for a look at the memorial to Daniel Boone — one of the more famous Kentuckians. His grave site and memorial overlooks the Kentucky river and the state capital building. It is probably the most scenic viewpoint of Frankfort. We also were able to wander around and look at all the other grave sites scattered throughout. Some went as far back to Revolutionary War times with several veterans from that war. Many Civil War vets from both sides were buried there as well. In the center was a large war memorial to all the Kentuckians who had died in all fighting since the Revolutionary War including the Spanish-American war and the war of 1812. I also spotted a family burial plot with what appeared to be three sons who gave their life sacrifice in the second world war. It was a good time to begin to educate the kids on the history of our country, what it stands for and the sacrifice many have made for us to be where we are today. I feel a tirade post building within me but for now I will hold off.

Finally, we headed home and stopped by an antique shop that we pass by through town almost everyday but have never stopped to look around — until now. My wife found a nice country breadbox for the kitchen and we headed home for some quick naps and relaxation before our last BBQ dinner and my son’s T-ball game. A quick cool off dip in the pool afterwards rounded off our enjoyable day.

An addition to yesterday’s post on the heat and our church picnic — I spotted this church sign on the way home:

“This church is prayer conditioned”

…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net