Archive for May 2013

Five Classic Weather Questions----The Answers May Surprise You

When it comes to weather, there are endless questions!  I thought I would  investigate a few that we think we already know the answers to.  I  tried to use some different sources, not just Wikipedia, and I hope you  find reading  this as much fun as I did  doing the research.  Let’s get started, shall... Read more »
By Weather Girl,
May 29, 2013 at 1:50 pm
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Severe Weather Season Is Heating Up

Our thoughts and prayers go out to the people in Moore, Oklahoma, struck by the devastating tornado on Monday. This region of Oklahoma is in “Tornado Alley” and they are no strangers to severe weather. The same area was hit in May 1999, by an EF-5 tornado. That storm produced winds of 318 mph, the... Read more »
By Weather Girl,
May 21, 2013 at 7:57 pm
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The Medium and the Message: David Foster Wallace, "This Is Water"

Sharing this weather, here, every day, we’re soaking in it. We talk about  the weather in the elevators of our mornings, in the check-out lines of evening.  This is reality–so obvious, so ordinary, and so different for each of us! Yet we share, if only for  the moment, a common connection, our common humanity. I... Read more »
By Weather Girl,
May 18, 2013 at 4:50 pm
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How To Mix Your Own Spring Cocktail

This one’s for you, Chicago. Enjoy….. First, assemble ingredients— start with  lots of sun blue sky okay, maybe a few puffy clouds for interest fresh breeze 78 degrees lilacs blooming light through leaves  violets in the grass and dandelions, of course! t-shirts, shorts and sneakers or that outfit you’ve been waiting to wear a bicycle,... Read more »
By Weather Girl,
May 16, 2013 at 7:32 pm
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Please Dress for the Weather

This is a public service announcement.  I’ll keep  it short and simple, I know your time is valuable, and why bore others needlessly? Please dress for the weather! The  five-day forecast is not just for old farmers (although according to Pew Research Center, interest in the weather does skew older). We all share this weather... Read more »
By Weather Girl,
May 11, 2013 at 11:52 am
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taking out the garbage, surprised by violets

taking out the garbage, surprised by violets
So, I was taking out the garbage this morning, and everything was astonishing green. There was just a little rain falling, still so pleasantly dripping. To do such ordinary things with grace, sometimes there are surprises. Violets, and dandelions!   Like this? Why not subscribe? Type your email address in the box and click the... Read more »
By Weather Girl,
May 10, 2013 at 8:56 pm
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Ephemeral Spring

from The Botticellian Trees by William Carlos Williams The alphabet of the trees is fading in the song of the leaves the crossing bars of thin letters that spelled winter and the cold have been illuminated with pointed green— by the rain and sun— ----------------------------------------------------------- Days of sun, days of rain.  Then comes a string of  just-about-perfect days, the kind of days  people have been waiting for ---oh, so impatiently---"Hurry up, Spring!" scrawled in chalk on the sidewalk. Already, the lace of green is giving way to leaves. Now, it's May, and the lilacs are blooming. This is the time to gather morels, described so well in Illinois Outdoors. It was the morels that got  me thinking of  ephemeral spring. In the Illinois woodlands (perhaps even some wild places in this city) are  jack-in- the-  pulpits and bloodroot---true spring ephemerals, as they appear and bloom before the canopy of leaves. I remember a clearing in the woods, and a field of bloodroot. Each plant with a single, perfect white flower. Stems bleeding red sap  (hence the name) when we tried to pick it. In the new-plowed fields,  farmers would find arrowheads. All the kids hunted for arrowheads, too--more elusive than morels. And  while the sunny and warm weather lasts, farmers are out planting, making the most of  these ephemeral spring days, before the  rains, again...
By Weather Girl,
May 9, 2013 at 7:28 am
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In Praise of Dandelions

In Praise of Dandelions
Do they really need defending, yes! Every spring when the dandelions return, so do their detractors. It would seem that dandelions are doing just fine–certainly not endangered. And we are more environmentally aware these days, aren’t we?  We know how harmful weed killers and pesticides can be!  In fact, in Oak Park, you can’t use... Read more »
By Weather Girl,
May 6, 2013 at 8:34 am
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A Classic Raincoat is Good to Find

A Classic Raincoat is Good to Find
Yes, it’s the rainy season, and we all need adequate rainwear. What could be more classic than the trench coat? Doesn’t it convey a certain air of mystery, intrigue, glamour? This is the raincoat of choice for secret agents and private detectives, foreign correspondents— people on a mission. When I worked for a law firm... Read more »
By Weather Girl,
May 2, 2013 at 7:54 pm
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