Tuesday, April 5, 2016

Go Home April, You're Drunk

What the backyard at Chez Sarge looked like on the 2nd of April
When in doubt (and the Muse claims to be "snowed in north of Boston") one can always talk about the weather. That applies to just about anywhere on the planet, well, with one exception. Sandy Eggo.

It's always between 600 and 850  in Sandy Eggo. (Fahrenheit, of course, we don't do metric here*.) Of course, that temperature range is based on my own, less than scientific, measurements.

First trip there was a whirlwind tour. The Naviguesser drove me down from Hanford for a quick trip to Shakespeare's and Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery. No doubt you can guess the reason.

At Shakespeare's I met up with Tuna hisself and the Cap'n (as I term him) of HMS Defiant and his lady. There we shared a meal, an adult beverage, and a story or two.  In fact, The Naviguesser and Your Humble Scribe were regaled with tales of "it's never this hot and humid here, this is most unusual." Now those two suspects fellows have spent many a year in Sandy Eggo as part of their duties as officers in the Naval Service of these here United States.

So they would know.

Now the other three times I've been in that fair city the weather was very typical for that town. That is, it was warm, it was gorgeous, and, and...

Why yes, I do like Sandy Eggo. Why do you ask?

The most recent trip saw that 600 temperature. Oh yes, it was also raining. But it was January after all, and January in Southern California beats the heck out of Little Rhody in January.

Or April in Little Rhody for that matter. Which brings me to the point of this tale.

Little Rhody on a Sunday morning in April.

Little Rhody on a Monday afternoon in April.
And again...
Now this is New England, these meteorological events are not unusual and tend to happen from time to time. When I was nobbut a lad still in short pants, this sort of snowstorm was called "poor man's fertilizer." No, really. I don't know why, my maternal grandparents probably could tell me as they did till the soil from time to time. On a small scale mind you but still and all they knew these things.

While bemoaning the ever accumulating white stuff, I glanced out the window atop the north facing battlements at Chez Sarge, where I espied this youngster -


Nope, snow wasn't bothering that wee person at all!


Sigh...

To be young again.

Meanwhile outside of NAS Lemoore at the same time as those photos above...

Yup, 830.

The WSO sent me that photo (while stuck in traffic at the gate, no traffic laws were violated). Fair is fair I suppose. I sent her a couple of those snow photos above.

That's my kid. (Of course, I deserve it...)

As Buck often said, "It's always sumthin'!"





*The metric system was invented by the French during their revolution. I say if you like the metric system you're welcome to their week as well. Ten days long it was, with a single day off (called the décadi). Gee, why didn't the Euros adopt that as well? One wonders...

16 comments:

  1. I thought about sending you a similar picture as The WSO's, but thought that might be too cruel. We haven't changed the immigration laws here. Yet. A few more californians and that might change though.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I've heard about the recent influx of Californians down there. I guess Houston can't hold any more loons?

      Delete
    2. There are Californians and there are californians.
      The latter being folks whose parents immigrated from elsewhere.
      They have given real Californians a bad rep.

      Delete
    3. Unfortunately, our current Governor and one of the Senators are the former.

      Delete
    4. Real Californians, I get that.

      Delete
    5. You had me at "Unfortunately, our current Governor..."

      Personally, I can't stand either of your Senators. That's okay, I don't like mine either.

      Delete
  2. "Nope, snow wasn't bothering that wee person at all!"

    Not just wee persons, I'm one of those crazy's who loves winter and snow. And it's been
    a very disappointing winter because we only got a couple of dustings of snow and that
    was it.

    But I do understand why you love Sandy Eggo. Back in the '80's I used to go there on
    business all the time and I could go in the middle of August while it was 100 degrees
    in Tulsa and it would be 75 degrees in Sandy Eggo. Or I might be going in January with
    it 20 degrees in Tulsa and it would be 75 in Sandy Eggo. I even considered moving out
    there when Telex was in the throes of death but cost of living was way too high. And
    too many liberals on the left coast. But I still enjoy visiting!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Roger that on the high cost of living and the high volume of progressives.

      Delete
  3. Are you sure that is Rhode Island with all that snow, or is it really a picture of Iceland?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. D'oh.

      Cooler and warmer. It's a thing.

      In Reykjavik, apparently.

      (Hey, it "only" cost the state $10 million.)

      Delete
  4. It's April, in the Northeast US . . .and you got snow . . . and??
    I recall one April back in the late 1950s, living in New Jersey (South) and we had us an April snow STORM of large proportions.
    April snow tends to be wet and heavy. This storm took down the power lines and had us all huddled in the kitchen overnight, near the gas stove.
    No school, of course . . . but my brother and I thought that was great. The yard was a playland, just waiting. My dad had other plans for us, however. His plans included shovels and brooms and driveways and sidewalks. (Sigh)
    Then there was that snowstorm in MAY(!) when I was at Fort Devens, at the Tactical Training Course, living in a foxhole, after days of heavy rain. Now, THAT was a fun time. That's when the Mess Sergeant brought the large thermos (Silver Bullet) of hot chocolate out to the field and found us in our bivouac position. (As I once wrote . . . saved my life. I swear!) Just remember the words of poet T.S. Eliot, "April is the cruellest month . . ."

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. But, but, El Niño and all that...

      Yeah, they said it would be a mild winter, they didn't say anything about spring!

      Delete
  5. Re "poor man's fertilizer": According to the interweb thingy, when ice forms in atmosphere, atmosphere becomes part of the ice. Atmosphere contains nitrogen, which is essential plant food. Every precipitation event puts additional nitrogen in the ground, something like 5-10 lbs/acre. Snow usually melts gradually, and thus releases N slowly, like commercial fertilizer. It's not a lot of N, but it helps, and it's free. Snow also provides water, which is also a requirement. Finally, and this last is my reasoning and not that of the interweb thingy, slow-melting snow makes mud, which is the best environment for breakdown and absorption of organic material. It might kill all your flowers, but as they decompose they enrich the soil and allow for more, better flowers. Like dandelions. And there you have it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I knew I could count on you for an explanation, Shaun.

      Thanks for the data, which makes perfect, logical sense. No doubt, somewhere, another progressive weeps.

      Delete
  6. I have seen the extremes of Sandy's weather... in July.
    Once or twice in boot camp, while doing laundry patrol, I wished I'd had worn my pea coat.
    Besides that, it was so foggy the next barrack over was almost invisible.
    On another occasion in the early '70s the temperature reached the mid 90 degrees and everyone was all out of sorts because the older building had no A/C.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sixty was fine, light jacket worked.

      That day with high heat and humidity? Felt like Florida it did!

      Delete

Just be polite... that's all I ask. (For Buck)
Can't be nice, go somewhere else...

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