These temperatures are from my MyWay, web home page for Monday, March 5th at 9 a.m. I realize the glaciers are melting and scientists are grappling with the concept of global warming; but, that idea is certainly hard to grasp when temperatures all around the US are like the following:

Bellville, OH Cloudy
29°F

Jacksonville, FL Mostly Sunny
45°F

Altoona, PA Cloudy
20°F

Chicago, IL Mostly Cloudy
30°F

Yuma, AZ Mostly Cloudy
55°F

Harlingen, TX Sunny

45°F

Boca Raton, FL Partly Sunny
59°F

Inverness, FL Sunny
45°F

These towns represent places where family and friends live. My high school classmate RB is in Yuma and my high school ladyfriend Doneen is in Harlingen. Inverness is a place I am thinking seriously about where I would like to be next winter.

COMMENTERRY--

Woman Allegedly Shoots at Tailgater

HARRISON TOWNSHIP, Mich. - A woman who recently told authorities she was fed up with tailgaters pulled out a gun and shot at the tires of a pickup that got too close, police said. Officials believe the bullet missed the pickup, and no one was hurt.

While this is a serious violation of both law and civility—I still had to chuckle.

On the other hand, a tailgating cretin hanging on your bumper with his 3-ton vehicle at 70 mph could do substantially more damage than a bullet.

The logical question then follows; what is the real difference between these acts?

Continuing this thought; why then aren’t serious tailgaters routinely arrested and charged with assault with a deadly weapon, just as the above woman was?

Tailgaters are (to use one of my bride’s favorite expressions) a waste of good skin.

THIS WEEK—

I used the .410 shotgun to shoo a pair of Canada Geese from the pond’s island.

Already they were examining the terrain there for its suitability as a nesting site; completely ignoring my prominently displayed “No Goose Trespassing” sign.

Shooting from the upper deck simply produces a loud blast and rains tiny bird-shot upon them which is harmless but effective.

Yes, it’s a delight to watch them defend their nesting territory and raise their brood.

But, messy coexistence for months thereafter is substantially less than delightful.

Maybe I need a bigger sign.

IT COMES;

The first of these two images shows Max doing a “U” turn when he encounters the “high tide” across one of our trails. This is the inlet end of the pond and shows the North creek pouring Thursday night’s rain and snow melt under the bridge where ordinarily there is but a gentle flow of water.

and IT GOES—

Once the inlet streams overwhelm the capacity of the pond drain pipe the water level rises until it flows over the emergency spillway, which is shown in the second image, crossing the driveway. Assuming an average current flow this water should reach the Louisiana Delta and the Gulf of Mexico in approximately eight days.

Makes me want to launch a canoe.

LUNAR ECLIPSE SATURDAY—

A full lunar eclipse will be visible (weather permitting) in Eastern North America Saturday evening. The eclipse will be full by 5:44 p.m. and will last for about four hours. The moon will not rise above our Eastern horizon until about 6:30 p.m., so viewers will see the full lunar disc in a deep reddish/orange color because the sun light illuminating the moon will be that refracted through our atmosphere. The more dramatic view may occur while the eclipse is ending and the full moon returns to its normal brightness.

The photo to the right was shot this evening as the nearly full moon climbed above my Eastern woods.

WEATHER NOTES—

March 1st roared in—literally yesterday with a strong line of noisy thunderstorms about daylight. After the raucous arrival the weather settled into off-and-on rain with a day of temperatures in the low 40s; perfect ingredients for helping us continue to escape from winter’s frozen grasp.

The photo above was through the deck doors being splashed by the storm’s driving rain and shows the pond still wearing its icy hat. If you note a couple of blurs of reddish color near the bird feeder in the left center of the picture that is a pair of cardinals enjoying a soggy breakfast.

Our ice-out nearly always happens on March 15th. We’ll see.

COMMENTERRY--

This from The Tennessee Center for Policy Research:
Al Gore’s Personal Energy Use Is His Own “Inconvenient Truth”
Gore’s home uses more than 20 times the national average

Monday, Al Gore’s global-warming documentary, An Inconvenient Truth, collected an Oscar for best documentary feature, but the Tennessee Center for Policy Research has found that Gore deserves a gold statue for hypocrisy.

Gore’s mansion, located in the posh Belle Meade area of Nashville, consumes more electricity every month than the average American household uses in an entire year, according to the Nashville Electric Service (NES).

In his documentary, the former Vice President calls on Americans to conserve energy by reducing electricity consumption at home.

The average household in America consumes 10,656 kilowatt-hours (kWh) per year, according to the Department of Energy. In 2006, Gore devoured nearly 221,000 kWh—more than 20 times the national average.

Attababy Albert. You’re truly an inspiration!


Then, this in recent news on the current vice president:

MSNBC reports:
Cheney unhurt after ‘huge’ blast at Afghan base
Bomber kills or wounds two dozen; Taliban spokesman says VP was target

Fogeyisms has it on good authority the Veep was never in any real danger. Sources tell us he had his shotgun right there under his limousine car seat.