Well . . . I looked up some information on The Old Farmer's Almanac yesterday.
#1 - I was trying to find out why I am seeing so many blonde woolly bear caterpillar's this year. (It didn't mention anything about the blonde ones, but did tell the legend of what the different bands on the caterpillar meant. The wider the middle brown section is (the more brown segments there are), the milder the coming winter will be. A narrow band is said to predict a hard winter.)
So, I'm thinking a blonde caterpillar means pack your bags and head South for the winter!! ;D
#2 - Forecasting our upcoming winter here in the Midwest - "Winter will be colder than normal, with the coldest periods in late December, mid and late January, and mid and late February."
In other words . . . buy a snow blower, extra gloves, long underwear, ear muffs, warm socks, buy lots of hot chocolate. OR . . . pack your bags and head South for the winter!! ;D I wish!
We could have a Sjogren's Compound somewhere in the South . . . the whole neighborhood is made up of Sjoggie's. Surely to goodness, someone will have a good day and we can trade off helping each other. Daily massages, hot tub, relaxation tapes, grilling meals, etc. ;D One can always dream! :D
Not to be the bearer of bad news . . but, it is, what it is . . . . be prepared!
Bucky
Not to be sad.
Bucky, what you are seeing may not be the Isabella Moth (wolly bear) caterpiller, but one of its relatives, the Acrea Moth or the Yellow Wooly Bear, neither of which would have a black end.
Not sure but they both live in your area.
In any event...I'm headed South!
Quote from: Bucky on September 15, 2010, 06:49:30 AM
with the coldest periods in late December, mid and late January, and mid and late February."
Not to be picky .. but itsn't that most of the winter they are saying will be 'cold'. ;D
Liz - I was thinking the same thing!! ::)
mac - can I come with you? ;D By the way, "where" are we going?
Here's another strange thing going on right now . . . there are hundreds and hundreds of dragon flies e-v-e-r-y-w-h-e-r-e!!! I don't know if it's because they are harvesting the crops right now or what. Any ideas on this?
They say animals can tell when storms, etc. are coming - like in the case of the tsunami - the animals went to higher ground before the tsunami hit. I think they can sense the change in atmospheric pressure or something - they just know!
Bucky
Guys, I hate to break it to you, but winter in the Deep South has its drawbacks. I write to you from Birmingham, AL- having grown up in Tuscaloosa, AL. While we do not have the massive snowfall y'all have, we do have torrential rains, ice and straightline winds, etc;. Granted, the humidity is a blessing in the winter, but makes the heat much worse in the summers.
When there is so much as a rumor of snow citizens flood the grocery stores in the fear that we will have to resort to cannibalism in order to survive the 1 inch accumulation! Granted, the South had a hard time during the flukish blizzard of 1993, but the previous centuries worst snowfall was about 4 inches! Lack of snow plows, chains, snow tires and snow experience makes driving more dangerous than one would see in Yankee locales. People get so anxious about snow down here that even a modest chance of accumulation shuts everything down. Last year it snowed heavily in Nashville (6 hours away). The city & county schools for the upper 2/3 of the state shut down- drives me crazy!!!! Don't get me wrong, my kids are great, but I really like them to be in school.
Also, where there is cold air and rain, there will be ice. In the south that means downed trees and power failures. This results in being homebound with spoiling food anyhow. Its also rough on our joints.
I suspect that the winter may be worse than last year because of the season feeling different this year. I know-sounds daft! My husband and I are both suffering flares with our joints that appear to relate to the air pressure. Pretty much everyone I know is experiencing an odd sluggishness that they always feel is related to seasonal changes. You sometimes see that when the sun has not been out much from long rains & time change- but we are having a fair amount of beautiful weather. Temperatures are odd, too. We'll have a day or 2 with high 70s-low 80s and suddenly its 97 for too long!
I don't care how cold it gets as long as I don't have to shovel out a car this season!
Patze
Ah, There's new horizons to be had for some of us! What you ask??? Time changes from Daylight Savings to Regular Time...
It starts Sunday, Nov 7....I can go to bed at 6 p.m. and it will be completely dark outside...
FOR ALL OF US in the STATES...Something Good is Fall begins in 7 days on Sept. 22. And, if that's not enough goooooood stuff, FULL MOON ON THE NEXT NIGHT, THE 23RD!!
Old Farmer's Wife, aka, Joy Cox ;)
come on down...the only concern i have weather-wise is hurricanes.
snow and ice are rare...if it even gets cold enough. we generally have only 30 days of winter weather a year.
Got an extra room Malditogrillo? :)
I'll go anywhere where I don't have to shovel just a few inches of snow now and then, I had to shovel feet of the white mess last winter. Sure don't want a repeat of it.
Patze
I used to try to vacation in Florida every year for 2 to 4 weeks. Now that I am not working, I will have to settle for a week in Campbell River, BC.
Some times I would save my money and turn the heat up. That will be hard this year.
Yes, the heat will be something this winter. With the prices being sssoooooo high and all. They say it's high every year, but my bills just went way up, like $100/mo and that was with A/C in Michigan. Think about heat. I'll be thinking about longjohns. I have some, so I won't have to shop! Lucy
Bucky, I grew up in Saskatchewan (province in Western Canada) and we'd have lots of dragonflies when we had summers with lots of mosquitoes. Apparently dragonflies love mosquitoes for lunch! I don't know what other kinds of insects they eat.
Prairie gal
Bucky, You can come... ;)
Will head to SW FL in Dec. Since DH retired HE doesn't want to deal with a half mile lane in the mountain woods come snow and ice season. When he worked he HAD to traverse it but he wants to fish year round now, not that the fishing is any good in FL in the winter but he's in his little boat and happy.
Last year I have to agree with some of the above...even in SW FL we had the heat on for almost 3 months! Hope it is warmer this year.
Princess Pea,
We actually explored northern Ala (go Tide!)in the mid 90's as DH had it after the winters of '93 and '94. We visited many of the PD's who were very gracious and showed us their areas, gave us the C of C tours and then told us of their blizzard of '93 and how bad it was with people dying and not being able to get out.
Made sure we visited in the summer so he could experience the heat and humidity with which he would have to deal. He decided maybe that wasn't for him and tried TN and NC.
Just can't imagine moving away from our mountain unless it were to be closer to daughter in OH.
mac - Ohio's not such a bad place - I was born and raised there and lived there until 1992. ;D
Last year with all that snow everywhere - I read, or heard somewhere, that 49 of 50 states all had snow of some amount all at the same time!! :o I don't think that happens too often.
I would much rather deal with snow than ice. Ice scares the living daylights outta me! Gives me such a stomachache until all my family is home, safe and sound.
Bucky
pRINCESSPEA,I think you are right about something feeling weird about the weather. It was nice on Sundsy when I drove up toe my son's house and then on Monday also. Tuesday there was a big change that brought cold, lots of rain and wind and dampness. Then the joints started their swelling, etc
Somehow, I just have a feeling this could be a bad winter. I am trying to start getting things done to help keep the house warm and just hunker down in general. I happen to be one of those fruitcakes who really loves winter. I used to love the blizzards (the little blizzards that weren't so dangerous) and was always glad when the kids made it home from their jobs when they were older. We live in the country and one has to carry heavy clothing in case you get stranded.
Anybody old enough to remember the blizzards of 77/78 and 78/79 winters???? Those were a couple of tough winters. Anyone remember the winter of 83/84 where the month of Dec had so much snow and wind chills in MN went down to 80 below zero. EVeryone stayed home a lot cause it wasn't safe to out running around. Our kids sure had fund in those winters of the early 80's and our winters the last 15 years or so have been pretty wimpy for MN. I better not talk too smart cause this one isn't even here yet.
Doesn't it make you wonder how the pioneers made it through the winters with newspaper for insulation and the only warm place being right next to the wood stove. Wow, can't imagine it. Irish ;D