Cap'n Bob & the Damsel

Environment

Ominous Road Warning

Ominous Road Warning

Damsel and I made the trip from Arizona to the California Low Desert today. The weather was agreeable for most of the way with the exception of some crosswinds that affected our transition along some places as we drove along Interstate 10. The warnings were not without merit, although we have had worse conditions on previous trips.

Damsel took this photo as we approached Desert Center. The traffic was a bit heavier than the last few times we made this trip. We cannot connect the additional traffic with any specific event or holiday, so I presume the heavier traffic is a random event.

At any rate, we are comfortably camping in Palm Desert this evening and will be entertaining our kids and grandson over the weekend. They stopped by for a little visit before heading to the other grandparent’s place to bed down until tomorrow when they will return for another visit.

06 Jan 2017 by California Environment Travel

Inclement Weather

Inclement WeatherIt looks like the long holiday weekend will bring our desert some rainfall. I took this photo this afternoon at about 4 PM as the dark clouds approached from the southwest. It didn’t actually start raining until around 5:45 PM but the rain is still persisting at two hours after it started.

Our forecast calls for continued chance of rain throughout the year-ending weekend and on into the first part of next week. Damsel and I are all self-contained in that all of the shopping is done for the holiday weekend menus and we’re well stocked with other survival provisions.

We know it is very cold in other parts of the country and it will be relatively warm here compared to some places, although our high temperatures are not forecast to exceed 55 or 60 degrees for the next few days. That is harsh for us since it has only been a few weeks since the highs were in the 90’s.

Meanwhile, we’re battened down and prepared to enjoy a nice Happy New Year holiday regardless of conditions. We wish you all a very Happy, Healthy and Prosperous New Year!

30 Dec 2016 by Arizona Environment Holidays Retirement

Forty Years Plus of Climate Change Alarmism

1977-78.jpg

Joe Bastardi, writing in The Patriot Post reminds us of the perpetual misinterpretation of weather phenomena by the media and other Greenbats. This article discusses the tendency of alarmists to blame any and all weather phenomena on anthropogenic activity. Forty years ago, they were discussing a new Ice Age, but as Joe notes, they want us to forget about that:

First It Was No Snow and Cold. Now It’s More Snow and Cold?

I will keep this short. The climate change (AKA global warming) alarmists are now understanding that blocking over the North Pole is the inevitable result of long-term oceanic and solar fluctuations (or at least I hope they are). However, in an effort to again push their missive (fear of a cold, snowy winter), they are pre-blaming the shift in the polar vortex on their ideas. This is rich because, in the winters of the 1970s, when it got very warm relative to average over the poles, we had people warning that an ice age was coming (of course they want you to forget that).

[Read the entire short article.]

Image: 500 millibar world chart showing relative temperatures; red is hot, violet is cold.

02 Nov 2016 by Environment Global Warming Greenbats

Harvest Moon over Arizona

Harvest Moon over Arizona

Well, it has been over a week since we posted anything here on the state of the world, etc. We have been busy with our October to-do list, consisting of a few chores and some important healthcare milestones.

Damsel took this photo of the harvest moon rising behind our big saguaro and ocotillo a couple of evenings ago. We are having a pleasant “second spring” with daytime temperatures in the high eighties to low nineties and nocturnal lows are still in the comfort zone of low to mid sixties. We love our desert retirement home.

Click on the image to enlarge.

18 Oct 2016 by Arizona Astronomy Environment Retirement

Snake at Sundown

Snake at Sundown

Damsel was in the courtyard just after sundown this evening when she noticed this three and a half foot long snake coming across the road out front. She called to me telling me I should bring a camera. After she pointed it out, we went down the RV drive to get a better look.

According to Wikipedia, the species Ctotalus scutulatus (Western Mojave Rattlesnake) is reputed to be aggressive toward humans and, in fact, this guy coiled up into a striking position as I approached. I took this photo before quickly retreating behind the landscape wall. We wanted no close encounters with some of the most toxic of rattlesnake venom.

We backed off and watched the snake slither along the RV Drive until finally disappearing under some of the native creosote on the lot to the west of us. We hope that it keeps on moving away from the area where we will be walking the dogs later tonight.

29 Sep 2016 by Arizona Critters Environment Photography

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