Category Archives: Weather

Bird brain

If you’re looking for the first robins of spring where you live…

They’re all in Central Park.

I noticed a large gathering of robins on the Great Lawn when I was walking Rory this morning.  They were spaced out in an almost geometric pattern, standing very still.

It looked much like the start of some sci-fi films, just before the aliens land…or creatures burst through the earth after being buried in pods for centuries.

Perhaps they were exhibiting the bird behavior that mathematician John Nash studied as a student at Princeton, which was dramatized in the movie A Beautiful Mind, starring Russell Crowe.

Of course, there is one other reason the birds could have been standing there on the Great Lawn in the early morning –

Breakfast.

 

 

Waterworks

From 1992 to 2000, I lived in Kansas City, Missouri. I moved there for a job, not knowing too much about the city or how — or if — I would like it.

I LOVED IT.

I loved the people, the food, the arts community, the food. And that’s also where I adopted Rory Dog.

Like I said — great people.

Kansas City is top of mind today because it’s Fountain Day  — the day they turn on all the public fountains in the city.  You do know that Kansas City is second only to Rome in the number of fountains?

It’s true.

So, if you get a chance to visit Kansas City, you’re sure to enjoy them.  Because as of today, the fountains are on.

It’s spring in Kansas City!

Winds day

I had an early appointment downtown this morning.  As I made my way from the subway station to the studio, the wind was blowing so hard, I was almost lifted off my feet.  I thought…

“What a blustery day.”

I can thank Winnie the Pooh for that.

We all write for different reasons.  Some to make a living.  Some just hoping to entertain.  And then there are the truly gifted who entertain and teach us something about ourselves. And their words live for generations.

A.A. Milne defines that category.

So, all you mothers out there who are reading Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day to your kids — imagine a day like today, decades later (no need to say how many, I hope) when your son or daughter will stand on a windy street corner and effortlessly recall these words.

And smile.

Gopher: If I was you, I’d think about skedaddlin’ out of here.
Winnie the Pooh: Why?
Gopher: ‘Cause it’s “Winds-day.”    
 
Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day

Good morning

Central Park, New York City

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Spring in the air
Spring in my step
Spring!
Spring!

– Dorothy (Alves) Holmes

Rain day

Guess who was waiting to greet me at my front door this morning?

Surly little devil.

And rumor has it he plans to hang around all day.

Uninvited.

Now, I have two possible responses to my unwelcome guest.

First, I can let him ruin my day.  Get nothing accomplished.  Eat too much.  Get depressed. Perhaps shed a tear or two for no particular reason.

Or I can chose the far healthier response…

Go see a movie.

I still may not get as much work done as originally planned.  I may — okay, I will — eat junk food.  And if I end up crying, that simply means…

It was another great day at the theatre.

Wet

The best thing one can do when it’s raining is to let it rain. –
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Nuff said.

Plastic people

It’s been bitterly cold in NYC the past few days, and in the family-friendly Upper West Side, this has been a common sight:

The plastic-covered baby carriage

On an intellectual level, I realize the plastic covers serve a useful purpose, shielding the child inside from the cold, snow and rain.

But my claustrophobic mind registers only one panicked thought…

He’s smothering!  Get that poor kid out of there!!

Sorry.  All better now.

It does makes me wonder — would my fear of small spaces have been averted if my mother had used such a baby carriage when I was young?  Will children today whose mothers use such contraptions have less of a chance of developing claustrophobia?

For their sake, I hope so.

Some good should come out of being publicly shrink-wrapped.

Magic carpet

It’s chilly today in New York City.

My morning walk with Rory in Central Park was cold, cold, cold.

So when I found this aerial view of carpets in Marrakesh, Morocco — shot by photographer Yann Arthus-Bertrand — the colors and reflected sunlight warmed me right up.

Hope it adds a little warmth to your day, too!

Blue skies


New York City does not look like this today.

Our skies are overcast. The air is heavy. The rain that alternately threatens and abates has delayed my friend’s plane for hours.

No, the skies are not bright in Manhattan.

But this photo, from Cat Satler’s Art Scrapbook, reminds me that they will be again soon.

Very soon.

Snark week

Catastrophic events can bring out the best in people.

But if they don’t materialize as predicted, boy — it can bring out the snark in them as well.

Where’s the relief that Hurricane Irene didn’t gain strength?  That she was only a tropical storm when she entered New York City at Coney Island?  That the mayor evacuated those areas of the city that currently have water standing in the streets?

Instead, Facebook and Twitter are full of complaints from New Yorkers about how ‘lame’ this hurricane is.  How they wasted a Saturday preparing their homes and backyards and families.

Come on, people — how about a little gratitude that we were spared from what could have been?  Sure, the media spent 24/7 reporting on the storms, but it’s their job to keep us informed.

If they hadn’t, we would have complained about that.

It’s time to feel lucky, people.  I certainly do.