Radically Retired

Tag: Weather

  • Sneaking Up …

    Sneaking Up …

    Spring weather in deep south Texas basically happens all winter long.

    One hint that spring is sneaking up on us here is the flush of white blossoms on our back yard orange tree.

    Soon, we’ll be heading back to our home in Canada, where spring will become glaringly apparent by about mid April to early May.

    There will likely still be snow when we arrive home in a couple of weeks. The nice thing about driving home vs flying is that we have time to acclimatize on the way north.

    Jumping (via a flight) from the current mid 30° C (mid 90° F) temperatures in South Texas to our near or below freezing temps at home in Saskatchewan, Canada, would be too much of a shock to our systems.

  • Roses in January

    Roses in January

    While friends and family at home in southern Saskatchewan, Canada are battling strong winds, icy roads, and hazardous driving and outdoor walking conditions, I feel very blessed to be able to walk outside our front door door here in south Texas to practice my floral photography on our neighbour’s repeat blooming climbing rose.

  • Confusion in the Plant World

    Confusion in the Plant World

    This past summer saw an unusual amount of rain here in the Rio Grande Valley.

    As a result, some plants are confused as to when to bloom.

    This hedgehog cactus is an example.

    Whereas it usually would bloom in the spring here (March and April), it was in full bloom last week.

  • Trouble in the Sky

    Trouble in the Sky

    Late yesterday afternoon, a call was interrupted by the loud honking on my cell phone of an Environment Canada tornado warning for our area.

    Within an hour, the eerie calm set in and the sky darkened.

    My feature photo is looking east from our balcony. Soon, the wind picked up, and the nimbus clouds moving in from the west started attacking the fluffy white cumulus clouds, threatening the formation of the dreaded combination: cumulonimbus. The cloud formations I learned in science class so many years ago have stuck with me. That’s a testament to a good teacher.

    Thankfully, our only outcome from the ominous warning, was a ten minute episode of heavy rain, wind, thunder, and lightning; then it just carried on moving east.

    I’ll admit I was more than a bit anxious for a while.

  • Summer Switch

    Summer Switch

    A month ago, after checking our long range forecast (cold, damp, windy, and smokey), and assuming correctly that I’d be mostly housebound, I set out to post 31 days in a row, concluding with my Father’s Day post yesterday.

    Now that I’ve achieved that goal, I’ll be cutting back to two or three posts a week.

    Summer is arriving on June 20, and with our typically short duration of summer weather here on the Canadian prairies (I’m optimistic that it’ll improve), it’s time to get outside while the gettin’s good.

    Thanks, as always, for following along!