The Wind

This has been a particularly windy spring. I think I have said that before. It was windy again today.  Living in town, sometimes it is difficult to estimate just how hard the wind is blowing, and if you do not pay attention to what the mph means in terms of its effect on  you, the impact of the wind can be surprising.

The horizon profile and footprint of Lubbock has an interesting influence on the wind. Central Lubbock is surrounded by a Loop.  Inside the Loop, the impact of the wind is largely mitigated. Depending where you are, and the direction from which the wind is blowing, the impact can be tremendous. This is especially noticeable when the dust is barely blowing outside the Loop.  Inside the Loop, the dust may be barely noticeable on the horizon, but not in town.

In the winter, for houses who have pipes on the north side of the house, the pipes are more apt to freeze, than if the pipes are on the south side of the house.  My house faces north, so a north wind is not felt too badly in the back yard.  Because of fences, trees, and my neighbor's houses, a south or westerly wind is very noticeable in the trees, but not too bad in my yard.  I do feel the east wind, though.

My front porch is enclosed on 3 sides, open to the north. It gets no sun, so is cooler than the sunny air sometimes. But unless the wind is from the north, it is stiflingly warm in the summer, especially at night, when the concrete and brick have been absorbing heat all day.

Throughout town, inside and outside the Loop, large buildings have the same mitigating effect on the wind.  It is amazing.

The building I work in is in the middle of large cotton fields. We are outside the Loop. The parking lot is very large, and the walk to the building in the wind can be bitter.  Especially because the parking lot is open to the north.   As people on the South Plains like to say, there is nothing but barbed wire between us and the North Pole.  That factor often induces me to wear a much warmer coat in the mornings than I might otherwise choose.

So, we live with the wind. It influences many choices in our lives. A friend and I went out to see if it was too windy to go kayaking today.  The lake we use in town is a "run off lake."  The playas and canyon lakes catch a lot of run off water.  That means garden chemicals, street chemicals and trash accumulate in the lakes.  We do not mind kayaking on top of the water, but do we do not want to be swamped with waves on windy days.  It is less pleasant to kayak in the wind. If the water were clean, I would not mind getting wet on really warm days. But not with that water.

Blowing Dust

We are in a drought. Today, the winds kicked up and the dust was blowing. It was low dust, you could see the blue sky above it.  But it was enough to fill my sinuses and give me a headache, make me sneeze, and make my skin itch. 

If you have not been in a desert dust storm, you might not understand the irritation the blowing dust and strong wind can precipitate. It has been said that the blowing wind creates negative ions in the atmosphere which can irritate people.  I believe it. 

I am grateful to have a house to be in, and thankful I can be out of the wind tonight.

What Good is A Newspaper

I subscribe to the local newspaper.  I usually skim the headlines, read what stories interest me, look for local interesting events, and check sports.  This morning, I checked for TV coverage of the Yankee-Rangers game.  None listed. 

After a windy dusty day, this evening was very pretty, so I sat out a couple of hours.  Well, I came in and was flipping around looking for something to watch on TV.  I found the Yankee - Ranger game in the 6th inning.

What good is the newspaper if the news is not accurate or correct?

Blowing Again

It is blowing, again.   This is West Texas, and Spring, and the two combine for some very blustery weather.  When I was out just a little while ago, I could hear the wind roar in the lines.  Which means the speed is about 35 MPH.  The Weather Channel said 28 MPH gusting to 36 MPH.  I really do get tired of the wind.

Interestingly, I am watching the NASCAR race, which is at Texas Motor Speedway, so 300 miles west.  The wind is a factor there, too.

Later in the summer, when the fields are no longer bare (hopefully crops will be growing) the dust will be much less noticeable.

It is interesting what is affected by the wind.

Weather Phenomenon

Unusual weather phenomenon in West Texas is not really that rare.  Dirty rain is not unusual.  On Dec. 31, 2010, I went shopping in the morning, and was in the store for about an hour. When I came out, there was evidence of slight precipitation. It was obvious, looking at my vehicle, that there had been some "dirty rain."  This means when the precipitation came down, it brought down with it dirt particles in the air.

Later that day, actually that night, we actually had "mud rain."  I think it was a combination of light rain and blowing dust, but it sure dirtied a lot of property.

Last night, we had ice and snow. Strong winds with zero plus or minus temperatures and wind chills.  Today, there were snow drifts around.  And many of these were covered with blowing dust or sand. I have lived in West Texas for almost 34 years, and this is the first time that I have seen dust brown snow drifts.

Does it surprise me.  No.  Just West Texas weather.

Trash and Recycling

My community has tried to be progressive with recycling, and had a "blue bag" program that allowed us to mix recyclables: aluminum cans, tin cans, glass, newspaper and plastic in blue bags that could be placed on the dumpsters and picked up regularly.  The local stores even used plastic blue bags so we did not have to buy commercial blue bags which were also available.  However, this was not a successful recycling program.

So, currently, the city has drop off locations where we can bring the same kinds of recyclables. I recycle.  I actually have recycled for more than 33 years, long before I came to Texas... In fact, when I first came to Texas, recycling was not common.  I lived in an apartment, and took my aluminum cans to a recycle station and dropped them off, not waiting for payment, which was apparently unheard of. I no longer recycle aluminum for payment, but at one time, I did and garnered tidy sums of money for the effort.

It is amazing to me, how much trash we produce.  I have just a small trash can under the sink, and use store plastic bags.  In the summer, because I use scoopable cat litter, and place the deposits in plastic bags before putting it in the trash, I take the trash out to the dumpster almost every day.  I think of how much more trash I would be putting in the dumpster if I did not recycle. 

Recycling is a business, and there is at least one company where I live that will pick up recyclables for a fee. 

It would be really good if more people would recycle. 

I have to get better at it... I bring plastic drink bottles to work, and do not recycle those: something I can improve upon this year.

Raking Leaves

I grew up in New England, and raking leaves was done in October, generally done by Halloween or early November, as we could expect snow to bury the leaves by then.  Now, living in West Texas, I do not rake leaves until November, December, or even as late as January (around New Years Day.)

I have already raked leaves twice this year before this week, because I get tired of looking at them. But, this week, with most of the area trees bare of leaves (except the neighbor's live oak) I raked again.  Raking in West Texas is a little frustrating for me.  There are areas of the yard where mounds of leaves have collected, so it is easy to gather those leaves.  The frustrating part is on the yard where the leaves are sparse.  Sometimes, the leaves are so brittle, that raking basically just breaks the leaves into smaller pieces.  I do the best I can, but the smaller bits are hard to scrape up... I tell myself it is okay, because small bits of leaves are good mulch, good fertilizer... Even so, as I have raked the leaves, the yard does look neater...

The Difference

I went to a national touring production of "Fiddler on the Roof" http://www.fiddlerontour.com/itinerary.html on 10/29/10.  I love musicals, and this is one of my favorites.  It was very well done, and as I do every time I see the play or musical, I cried through most of the last half. 

I was totally impressed with the professionalism of this production:  the sound system was good, the dance moves intricate but synchronized, the presentation of the actors was strong and confident...

I love the Lubbock Moonlight Musicals
http://www.lubbockmoonlight.org/Lubbock_Moonlight_Musicals/Home.html  but their amateurish presentation, and poor sound system really do represent them poorly...

I suspect, with time the Moonlight Musicals will increase their polish, and I have seen it as the years progress.  I suspect, thought, that audiences want the presentation now, and are not willing to wait....

The Storm as Background Effects

On the 21st of October, I was at a Reading Circle.  We were discussing Isaac's Storm,  by Erik Larson http://www.randomhouse.com/features/isaacsstorm/.  This is a story about the 1900 hurricane that devastated Galveston. We were in a large second story room, facing large picture windows that looked East.

As we talked, a storm blew in... Watching storms blow into West Texas is phenomenal:  You can see the front move in...You can see the lightning, unimpeded by hills.  You can see the clouds lower, the virga, the areas of downdrafts, the outflow boundaries, the anvil clouds, the towering cumulonimbus clouds.

This day, the storm moved in black as night...The clouds lowered, and eventually let loose with rain... Although various parts of town had hail, there was none where we were.

What a spectacular backdrop to a discussion about the deadliest hurricane in US history!

Spectator Sports Heaven

It is the Sunday of Labor Day weekend, and it is a beautiful day...
I was able to go out kayaking and birdwatching this morning, and came home feeling energized:  I cooked lunch, and will be working off and on with the computer, and sitting outside, watching TV sports.  What a schedule:

Baseball: Red Sox vs. Chicago at Fenway at 1230 http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/scoreboard/index.jsp ... Football: Texas Tech http://www.texastech.com/sports/m-footbl/text-m-footbl-body.html vs. SMU at Lubbock at 1430, and NASCAR Sprint Cup Racing at Atlanta at 1830 tonight http://www.nascar.com/.  I can watch sports all day!  I will, but will also do other chores: cook dinner, laundry, read.  Unfortunately, the Red Sox game did not end before the Tech game began, but I can easily flip back and forth between both games.

Because the Yankees are contending for post season play, I believe I will see lots of baseball in the next few weeks. 

I will add, for a Bible Belt community, it might be seen as odd endorsing a non-religious, commercial event. Well, lots of sporting events occur on Sunday, in Lubbock. But for TV rights involving football, Bible Belt Christians can grants LOTS of dispensations.

The Front Blew In

A coworker commented today that the front blew in about 3 AM today.  The wind was luxuriously freshening when I walked out the door this morning.  Another coworker commented how unusual our summer weather has been: we have had heat and humidity but very little wind.  It is the wind the helps to make living on the plains in the summer tolerable.  It cools the night.  But we have not had night cooling this year.  I check at midnight, hoping the front had blown in, and it was still 82° and still too hot to open up the windows.

The first thing I did tonight when I got home was open the windows. The fresh air is great!  With the front, the grey clouds moved in.  It was nice to have the cloud cover, which helped to keep things cool. We hope for rain, but are relieved at the break in the weather.

Minor Wind Event

We are having what I would call a minor wind event tonight:  it is blowing consistently, but not damagingly, and with no dust. Even though the ambient temperature was in the low 80's the windchill makes it feel much cooler.  When I moved to West Texas, my first stop was Amarillo... The press for Amarillo said that the days may be hot, but the evening winds cool everything down.  It may be true there, but during the summer, it is not true in Lubbock. 

I have moved the laptop, with electrical hook up, into the back yard for the first time this season. Why have I not done this sooner?  I do not know! But, it is very pleasant, especially because there are no mosquitoes right now, but that could change in a heart beat.

It is so beautiful out here, and I am so grateful to have a wonderful place to sit out and enjoy the fresh air and moon shine.

Pronunciations: Say it like a native

I grew up in a part of the world where there were town names like Worcester (Woster), Leominster (Lemonster), or Athol (Athall not Athole, as I had heard it pronounced).  When I moved to Texas I was surprised at some of the pronunciations of names... I knew a little Spanish, and thought Lamesa would be LaMaysa, not the local Lameesa.  It made sense in a way, because the Spanish name was Anglicized. I was also appalled at how little effort locals made to learn correct pronunciation of non-Anglo names, my own Polish one (at the time) included.

Growing up in a part of the world where there were many ethnic backgrounds, we did learn to say names, at least, as their owners pronounced them. Which meant someone with a Polish surname could say Italian names reasonably well...

So, I moved to Lubbock (not Luubock but Lubbuck).  And was amazed at the mispronunciations I heard... Ideal for idea, nucular for nuclear, lano for yawno (Llano).  And I learned early on that Bexar County (Bayer County, home of San Antonio) was not pronounced they way it looked... And, I am always amazed that life long Texans do not know this.

There are some famous mispronunciations, one of the most famous for these parts is the way natives pronounce New Orleans.  I will not even try to phoneticize the way natives say it. Or the famous New England accent "Pahk the cah" (park the car) or go to Hahvavd (Harvard.)

Tonight, I was watching The Weather Channel http://www.weather.com/ as Vortex2 www.vortex2.org/home/ was airing their tornado chase.  I had to smile as I listened to the broadcasters back in The Weather Channel studio... Borger (hard g) became Borgier (soft g), Dumas (Duumas) became Dumass. The broadcasters were doing their best to report places about which they had no knowledge, and about which they have never heard before... I appreciate their effort, and the difficulty of knowing the local pronunciation.

The Influence of El Niño or The First Day of Spring and It Is Snowing!

Okay, so the title gave it away. Last night was one of those what used to be very common but now are rare nights for me, in which I just could not get tired enough to go to sleep, and it was well after 3 AM when I finally crashed...

Consequently, I heard, when at about 1230 or so, the sleet and rain started, and within 30 minutes there was snow, starting to cover the grass. Eventually, it covered the concrete, but by morning, it was melting, and while, at about 2130, there is still some snow around, it has mostly melted.

I grew up in New England, where the saying was "If you don't like the weather, wait a minute."  I moved to Lubbock, Texas and guess what?  The saying is "If you don't like the weather, wait a minute." I do not think I ever told anyone we said the same thing in New England. (Texans are so egocentric, I think they would be insulted to know someplace else, with a LONGER history of settlement, people say the same thing.)

Weather is just a fickle thing...With good instrumentation, computer models, human observation, and knowledge of past history, meteorologists do a fair piece of making predictions.  But predictions are not statements of fact, they are just conjectures based on lots of information... If you want to know the weather go outside and look up. 

I have written this before:  One of the things I like about living in West Texas is the wide open sky and horizon that allows me to look at what is happening in the sky... Being an informed observer, sometimes it is possible to predict what will be happening with the weather... Like yesterday morning, which had a very low percent chance of precipitation.  I looked at the clouds, and knew something might happen.  I was driving to an appointment when the sprinkles happened. Not much, no long, but it happened.

And, so it is now officially spring, and we move into another cycle of renewal, growth, decline and dormancy.   This is the way of life.  So doggedly predictable, yet many people seem to be surprised by the decline and dormancy phases of life.  They are inevitable. And, the reality is, some year, we will not be around for spring. But while we are, ENJOY!

Weather, March 8, 2010

Weather in Lubbock can be amazing.  This morning it was raining.  As the day progressed, we had strong winds, blowing dust, mud drops, bright sunshine and virga. Weather truly can change very quickly in Lubbock, and today was no exception.

Because of the amazing weather in Lubbock, especially the severe storms, tornadoes and rapid changes, Lubbock is a prime spot for National Weather Service meteorologists. An interesting claim to fame...

A Tour of "the New County Jail"

Today I went on a tour of the new county jail in Lubbock, or the Lubbock Detention Center.  The people in charge of the county detention center, if they enact the plan they present to the public, "get it." 

The configuration of the jail is such that the offenders will be in "direct supervision."  They will be in pods where they have access to a day room and courtyard area, juice bar, microwave, showers.  Under the supervision of an officer. With videos cameras recording everything.  For minor violations, they can be placed in the cell for 23 hours...The emphasis is on following the rules... They will have access to GED classes, learning life skills, parenting and anger management (mostly done by volunteers.) When they are first arrested, they have unlimited access to phone calls, to try to get out of jail... The day rooms have free access to phones.

The mental health ward will place an emphasis on medication compliance. 

A member of the group asked why the center is not open, if it has been finished for a year... The tour guide explained it has not been finished, because although the outside looks done, the electronics are not.  Taking over the building would mean the county would have to pay for fixing what was not right in the first place...

Visitation will be by video access.  And, eventually for those who can not travel to the detention center, computer access on a library or home computer will be possible... There will even be computer video access for some court proceedings (not trials.) 

This prison was spearheaded by our former sheriff.  The one, who when another mayor died, wanted to run on the Republican ticket, but I am sure because he was Hispanic, the Republicans did not support him.  The Democrats offered to support him to run as a Democrat.  He declined.. He did not want to change his party to win.  So, he ran as an Independent, and won handily.  This sheriff has been on many statewide commissions and committees, and currently is on the Texas Board of Pardons and Parole...So, the county voted to fund this state of the art jail... The county commissioners axed some of the technology, and to the credit of the sheriff's department, they sought out grants, and got them, to fund their plans...

It was a most enlightening tour... The people who toured us were obviously excited and dedicated to the project.  I am a realist, and I know not every employee who will work at the Lubbock Detention Center will have their zeal and vision... But what a culture of positivism.

Go Lubbock County Sheriff's Department!

South Plains Storm Spotters

A grave omission in my blog of yesterday was about Storm Spotters.  It was so grave, I will give the Storm Spotters an entry of their own.

Storm Spotters are volunteers who are trained to watch the weather, and report back to the National Weather Service the conditions they see.  They go out in severe weather events, using their own vehicles, their own radios, and paying their own expenses for traveling. They have a station at the National Weather Service, populated by one of their own, and report the conditions they are observing.

With all the sophisticated equipment the Natonal Weather Service has, eyes on is still very important.

Who are these Storm Spotters?  Many of them are emergency response personnel, including police and sheriffs, firefighters, and emergency medical responders.  Some, however, are just volunteers who do this because they want to. It is exciting, and dangerous.  It provides a community service that we so little think about, and we do not bother to thank these people.

So, today, I am thanking the Storm Spotters.

For more information: http://www.spsst.org/ is the website for the South Plains Storm Spotters, and http://www.skywarn.org/ is the national website.

The Bridge of Lubbock

Today at work, a co-worker sent an email about a ribbon cutting event for The Bridge of Lubbock (http://www.bridgeoflubbock.org/).  This is a grass roots community center organization that has been in existence since 1999. It is Christian in basis, supported by a church. It is housed in what was once an elementary school.. The co-worker is on the board of directors of this agency, and supports it strongly. The ribbon cutting was for the "face lift" to the building and to support the growth and outreach of the programs.....

The Bridge of Lubbock has a mentoring program for young children and another for teenagers.  It has a free lunch program for those who need it, and a clothing closet.  There is an affiliated catering business, to provide job training skills, and the profits help support the Bridge (and the food is good, they provided refreshments at the ceremony.)  The Lubbock Community Health Clinic (http://www.chclubbock.org/clinics.html) has a satellite clinic in the building.  Patients are seen regardless of their ability to pay.  There is a Head Start program (http://www.nhsa.orgprogram/)  in the building.  And, Teethsavers, International (http://www.teethsavers.org/)  is opening their first clinic in the United States in Lubbock in this building. The affiliates do not pay rent, they share the building operating costs ... 

Teethsavers, by the way, is amazing. They can do dental care without electricity and running water... Check them out... I met the founder...Wow!

This building is set in Lubbock's "East Side" which is populated largely by Blacks and Hispanics.  It is commercially under-developed, emergency services are slower to respond, some streets are STILL not paved, and it's reputation is not "safe."

When I came to Lubbock in 1977, I spent a large part of my ten years at Catholic Family Service, Inc providing services to families in this part of town.  I never felt threatened.  When I worked for the Texas Department of Health from 1991 to 1995, I spent a large part of my time working with families in this part of town, and never felt threatened.  I kayak a lot on a playa lake in this part of town, and do not feel threatened.  I bird watch at Dunbar Historical Lake and the City of Lubbock Cemetery, in this part of town, and I do not feel threatened...

I was emotionally touched by the intensive delight of those involved in this agency at what they are accomplishing...I want to share this with you....And, for those of you who care, I want to ask you to support The Bridge of Lubbock