Life On The Hill

[pa_friendly_guy]

This winter has been the craziest winter in my memory. January had that warm spell, then a very cold snap when it never got above freezing either in the day time or at night with wind chills down in the single digits. The last 2 days have been record setting warm for this time of January, 62 yesterday and 68F today. I went out for a walk around the place this morning before the high winds and heavy rain line blew through. Winds over 60mph damaged trees and caused damage over a large section of Pa. It was so warm I worked up a sweat just walking down the hill in the woods in a sweat shirt. This is the end of January in Pa, it should be 30 degrees out today. The walk was very pleasant, I had not been to the pond for awhile. The paths were wet, soaked with water from the snow met as well as the rain, I would call them sponge like as I walked along. I cleaned the leaves out of the ditch I had dug for the spring run off coming out of the straight up and down path . The area above that rock shelf was also very wet like a wet weather spring. I picked up sticks and through them off the path as I walked so that it will be easier to mow down there next spring. There had been a major water line break down in the woods when I was away for 3 days last week. I walked through that section and saw just how much their big track hoe tore things up. My path was a mess where they had driven through and the woods had a big area pushed clean of brush and trees. They had not cut any large trees, but they rooted around down there and left a nice mess for me to deal with. I think when it dries out I will be able to put the path back with a little bit of shovel work and a rake. The woods are the woods and that will grow back quickly. The temps will drop 40 degrees tonight and tomorrow the high will be 27. Winter will return with a vengeance. This is not a good thing, the very highs to the very lows can cause a lot of problems. I have now seem daffodils up about 3 inches with their bloom heads showing. Some bushes have shown bud swell, Nature is pretty resilient and I am sure that most of the plants native to this area will survive no problem. I do believe that our weather patterns have been changing, and we may all be in for an amazing ride into the future.

[George Collins]

I almost put stock into global warming once.

Then Youngblood told me about going swimming in Tallahalla Creek when he was but a wee lad . . . IN FEBRUARY!

Even for Mississippi that's warm.

Then there was the snowfall back in April '92. Twas the heaviest of my lifetime.

Doesn't mean I like it when my fruit trees bud out in January like some of them have recently. Past three days have flirted with 80 degrees. Next three nights are going to flirt with freezing.

That's why farming for a living is always a tenuous proposition.

My uncle, who retired from ChemAg told me once that farming for a living gives about the same odds as rolling dice in Vegas.

One of the things that attracts me to permaculture is risk reduction. A diverse planting of perennials seems to lend itself to a much greater degree of security than putting all of ones proverbial eggs into a single basket.

[pa_friendly_guy]

Whether you believe that global warming is man made, or that it is part of a normal weather pattern shift that our world has been through many times in the past I think the evidence of the ice melt all over the world is pretty plane. Our weather patterns have been changing, and they continue to change, more storms, more major shifts from historical weather patterns, stronger hurricanes, more tornadoes. Australia is getting hotter, CO2 levels have been raising. There are definite and measurable signs of the change. Now, having said that, I remember watching a documentary movie in the 1970's that said we were 10,000 years over due for an ice age and it was coming soon. It turns out that the world has been covered with an ice age with some regularity. They happen about every 10,000 years, and we are 10,000 years over due for the next one. If you think about it, all of mankind's advancements, our science, our language and literature, our architecture, our art and music, our medicine, our industrial advancements, have all happened during this last 10,000 years of unprecedented warm weather. If we had been beaten back into the caves by an ice age to stay warm and had to scrounge for our next meal like our distant ancestors we could not have the chance to build the society that we have today. Global warming has allowed us to build what we have today. I will not make any comment as to if Global Warming is a good thing or a bad thing, and I will not make any comment about another ice age being just around the corner [ The last one came on in just 300 years, almost over night in Geological Terms ] Either of these two things could come, and both would have profound effects on us all, and this old man can not change, or even effect the out come one way or the other, So I do not plan of spending any time worrying about either one of those 2 out comes.

PS I always love it when they get all excited about global warning and say things like " This is the hottest it has been on this date since 1865 ' well, what made it so hot back in 1865 before the industrial revolution and the automobile?

[Lollykoko]

What happened in 1865? I'm not sure. But leading up to that date there were some noteworthy moments. http://greekgeek.hubpages.com/hub/massi ... flare-1859

The Carrington Flare of 1859

On September 1, 1859, British astronomer Richard Carrington saw something extraordinary: amidst the usual shifting sunspots his telescope projected onto a sheet of paper, several blobs of blindingly white light grew and faded over the space of five minutes. His sketch is the earliest record of a solar flare, a rare "white light" solar flare.

The next day, the charged plasma flung out by the sun reached Earth. It lit up the entire northern hemisphere, right down to Hawaii and Rome, with vivid red, blue, green auroras. The spectacular display was covered in numerous newspaper reports, which could actually be read at night by the glow. There were also reports of magnetic disturbances: compasses went haywire during the bombardment.

More seriously, the solar storm battered the world's infant communication network. Telegraph wires burst into flames, touching off fires (while in other cases fire crews were called to fires that did not exist, due to the fiery lights in the sky). Telegraph machines scorched paper printouts, stunned operators with electric shocks, transmitted gibberish, and continued working for hours even after being unplugged from the batteries that powered them. The Earth itself was no longer "grounded"!

For two days, the light show and electromagnetic storm continued, then faded.

[pa_friendly_guy]

Cool Lolly, I had never heard of that event. So there can be natural events that effect our weather patterns and effect our lives. Volcanic ash blocks out the sun and lowers land temperatures, solar flares effect communications as well as weather, methane being released from the ocean floor as well as being released as the ice cap melts increases green house gasses. Man may contribute to such things, but nature seems to have the BIG STICK when it comes to what happens with the worlds weather patterns. Like I said, I am not planning on spending time being worried about things that I can not control.

[pa_friendly_guy]

We had 8 inches of snow Tuesday, this weekend it will be about 60* so I would love to sift rocks out of the garden. That is what I like about living in South Western Pennsylvania, if you don't like the weather just wait 3 days, it will change,

[pa_friendly_guy]

I had a Stroke over Easter. It is very inconvenient, I have a lot to do. All of my trees arrived, just as you might have predicted, I don't know when I will be able to plant then. I still have a large hole in the garden that need filed in, I don't know how long it will take. Don't get me wrong, I did not DIE, But it is going to be a struggle. I don't know how much I will be on line. All in All, I am glad I did not Die.

[mannytheseacow]

Gosh! Sorry to hear that Guy. Take care of yourself, your trees are only good if you're there to enjoy them. If you weren't so far away I'd come and dig some holes for you, fella. I'll be directing all good energy in your direction.

[matt walker]

Dang Guy, I'm sorry to hear that. I'm sure you will be back out there in no time. If I were closer I'd come plant your trees for you man. I'll be thinking of you, keep us posted when you have any updates please.

edit: I cross posted with Manny, looks like we are thinking along the same lines.

[Lollykoko]

Guy, I'm very glad you were able to update us on your health situation. I am also very glad you didn't die. There has been too much of that sort of thing in my life lately. We are hoping to hear from you again soon.