This morning I went up on deck to find that it was raining quite hard. It was interesting to see that the horizon melted into gray and that the end of the ocean couldn’t be seen. It is a little disheartening to see rain on this trip, but then, this is the great Alaskan wildnerness we are going to see and rain may be part of it. I hope not, but we shall see.
And I Thought Wyoming Was Windy
Recently I was on the Sun Deck of the Crown Princess in the Caribbean Sea. It was so windy. The wind was whipping across the deck, hitting me in the face and blowing doors shut. All of a sudden I was comparing this desert called an ocean with the desert called Wyoming. Both are just so windy, in fact I would stay that the ocean, based upon the three trips that I have been on, are perhaps the most windy places I have ever seen before.
Why is that the case? I just realized that all of the geography lessons may actually mean something. I remembered that the “trade winds”, as these winds may be, or caused by the warming of huge masses of air. They are also caused by the rotation of the earth, and the blessing of these winds allowed our ancestors to cross the ocean when they didn’t have the blessing of a huge engine room that developed the power to drive the screws that drive the ship. It was a wonderful revelation. Yes, I have come to the conclusion that the plains of Wyoming are nice and wild and windy. Moreover, I love the wild windy ocean. I love the site of the waves breaking against the side of the ship. I love the dolphins jumping out of the water, and watching the ocean fish doing the same thing. I love the wild windy ocean.
I was reminded the other month when we visited Cheyenne that there is hot, and then there is hot. Cheyenne, in the end of July, can get hot. It was hot enough that if you were in a room, and had no air conditioning, and the wind was not blowing (an unusual event), then it was feeling uncomfortable. Of course, that brought back feelings of an earlier time, when it was truly hot. It was truly hot in Las Vegas, when taking a stroll at 10pm in the evening was like visiting the neighborhood oven. A breeze felt like someone was opening the oven door. I guess that I am never going to feel that comfortable when I visit that state. I like Cheyenne. It is a nice place to be, particularly in the dead of summer.
I love the smell of rain. There is nothing that is more a sensual experience for me than to have had a long stretch of dry weather in the west and then have a rain storm come upon us. Because it is so dry, you can smell the water, smell the rain when the weather changes. I am so grateful that the good Lord has blessed us with these small experiences in life that allow us to appreciate nature and the great beauty that exists in this world.
Here we are, the shortest day of the year. It was so cold today, and they say it will be colder tomorrow. I am not looking forward to that. Tomorrow should be the first day of winter, the shortest day of the year. We are just about there. Yeah, after tomorrow we begin the awfully slow march to longer and “warmer” days. I am feeling my years. It is this time of the year that makes me want to move to Phoenix, St. George, Yuma, or somewhere in the general vicinity. Well, tonight should be the longest night.
It just can’t happen soon enough. You might think that I am referring to the bottom of the current stock market crash, or maybe a reaching of the final depths of the recession. Those are all good things to worry about, but what I really can’t wait for is the end of the long slide into the night.
I am referring to the fact that the days are getting shorter, and that the sun now goes down behind the hills right about 5pm, and we still have a month left before the shortest day of the year. I hate the short days, and the long nights. I hate the cold days and the fact that I go to work in the dark and come home in the dark. I am a creature of the light, not the night. I am hoping that the recession turns quick too, and that the stock market will stabilize. However, I have got to have more light. Let’s stop this long slide into the night.
Today was one of those days that was just right. There is much to be appreciative of, and today was one of those. I came home from Church related activities and the temperature was just about perfect, there were no clouds, and it was a great day. Bonnie and I went out in the yard and did some cleanup work. It was just a really nice day.
Today marked the beginning of another winter in Wyoming. One of the first major storms of the year was working its way through Cheyenne, and the whole day consisted of fog, mist, and lousy weather conditions. It reminded me so much of the reasons why I am glad that I know live in Utah. I get tired of the lousy weather and the overcast skies.
Yesterday was another nail biter. We once again braved Interstate 80 during a winter storm. Luckily for us it was the middle of October, the ground was warm, and the trip was not impossible nor did they close the roads. It was kind of miserable because we had to travel through some adverse weather.
My most non fond memories of I-80 are terrible weather and trips through it. For instance, there was the time that Bonnie and I just about went off the road and were swaying out of control on I-80. Then there was the time that we went through a ground blizzard for 20 miles on the highway in January. We have stopped many times in Rawlins, Rock Springs, and Laramie, on the road and that wasn’t always fun. I hate to think that the I-80 travels for the next little while are going to be always evaluated based on the weather. Tonight was OK. Next time may not always be so OK.
It is amazing just how hot it is in Las Vegas. It gets hot in Utah too. I guess because of the grass and the water that you see there, that you think that it is an Oasis, but it is really just a part of the desert, and man it gets hot. 115-120 in the middle of the summer is nothing for this place, and the asphalt, concrete, steel, and people just add to the heat. A record was set on the first full day that we were there of 114. After dark it is still way hot and way miserable for people. I don’t know how people can stand living there, but then people stand to live in Utah, and that is part of the desert too. The big difference I guess is the fact that Utah is 2500 feet higher than Las Vegas, and 400 miles further north.