Thunderstorms 101

Winter thunderstorms do happen, but they are rare because the air is more stable. Strong updrafts cannot form because the surface temperatures during the winter are colder.  Did you know that a winter thunderstorm is called a thundersnow? That's my Severe Weather 101 learning for today.  Or is it?  What about summer thunderstorms? There is a lot to learn there. We had rain last night with lightning and a little thunder, and it has started again just now.  That signals summer for me - that's when we get our thunderstorms.  Lightning is generated in clouds with strong vertical updrafts. Thunder is the acoustic effect on the Earth's atmosphere.  Thunderstorms can line up in a series and become what's known as a trainband or squall line.  Where would we live in the world to experience the most thunder? Venezuela, Zulia is the world leader in thunderstorms; "The most persistent and most spectacular thunderstorm in the world is Catatumbo Lightning. This is nearly continuous thunderstorm with up to 20,000 flashes of lightning per night, seen 140 - 160 nights per year and lasting approximately 10 hours long. It produces approximately 10% of tropospheric ozone in the world." Located along the Andes Mountains, it is the largest lake in South America and is situated in such a way that mountain breezes tangle with warm lake air. treehugger.com lists the top ten hotspots ranked and listed by average lightning flashes per square kilometre per year.  It looks like the Republic of Congo is the dominant location for this weather phenomenon: 1. Lake Maracaibo, Venezuela: 232.52 2. Kabare, Democratic Republic of Congo: 205.31 3. Kampene, Democratic Republic of Congo: 176.71 4. Caceres, Colombia: 172.29 5. Sake, Democratic Republic of Congo: 143.21 6. Dagar, Pakistan: 143.11 7. El Tarra, Colombia: 138.61 8. Nguti, Cameroon: 129.58 9. Butembo, Democratic Republic of Congo: 129.50 10. Boende, Democratic Republic of Congo: 127.52 Our weather highlights say that showers and thunderstorms are skimming through southern Ontario Monday night and Tuesday.  Then we're on to a warm weekend. Our Niagara orchards on on display today.

Vestigial Us

The towel act described briefly in yesterday's post can be seen on youtube.  While it is another comedy team, it is the same fun.  This is thanks to Marina: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5411cS2P43E I wondered yesterday how we still have so much hair on our bodies - 5 million hairs. This seems like a lot of follicles that aren't of use anymore.  It is considered one of the aspects of human evolution where there are DNA 'leftovers' - vestigial structures. These include wisdom teeth, hiccups, the pink tissue in the eye (leftover from a third eyelid), ear wiggle, lip twitching (left over from when we would bare our teeth), the human tail bone, and goosebumps - when we had hair this made us look bigger.  The list and description of twelve of these can be found HERE and the Wikipedia article is HERE.  There are many items listed in the Wikipedia article. It was thought that the appendix was vestigial, but it now may be considered to have a purpose in our immune system to protect good bacteria in the gut. I thought there must be some funny evolutionary jokes - that is jokes about evolution.  But I found only one article with satirical evolution jokes/cartoons - a bored panda article HERE.  Otherwise, there seem to be few evolution jokes, but there are lots of Easter Bunny jokes:  How do you know the Easter Bunny is really smart?  Because he's an egghead.  How do bunnies stay healthy?  Eggercise  What do you call a mischievous egg?  A practical yolker  What's the difference between a bunny and a lumberjack? One chews and hops, the other hews and chops. Why didn't the easter egg cross the road? Because he wasn't a chicken yet!

The Odds Are

There's a site called Randomize and you pick and flip a coin.  "You have a 50/50 chance of this coin landing on heads or tails.  This U.S. penny has been flipped 162405 times.  Why don't you give it another flip!"  You can pick from a number of coins. Or you can roll the dice, generate random integers, prime numbers, lottery numbers, and random cards.  The website specializes in randomizing different things.  It has a random quote. We think of these odds and probabilities: 50-50, 60-40 and 80-20.    How many people do you need to have a 50-50 chance of sharing a birthday? 23 people.  In a room of just 23 people there’s a 50-50 chance of two people having the same birthday. In a room of 75 there’s a 99.9% chance of two people matching. I find that I have forgotten that odds and probably are not the same:   "Odds compare one event to another event, whereas probability compares one event to both possible events. Thus, when the odds are 60 to 40, the fraction for the Odds is 60/40, but the fraction to calculate the probability is 60/100". I am really thinking about the weather - of course.  That's my focus for probability as we move into spring rain and leave winter snow behind.  We want to have 0 probability of snow wherever we go.  Not that 20% chance of snow at any given point on the map.  "So for every 10 kms you travel you will increase your odds of seeing snow by multiplying the chance of snow at each point".  So stay put and reap the 20%. Our pictures today are scenes from Pennsylvania in late January when we visited the Longwood Orchid Festival.

Februalia Closes and the Cows Come Home

Lupercalia, the February 15th purification ritual of ancient Rome has come and gone. The thought.com website says that today we celebrate it with the hearth goddess, Vesta. The month was originally known as Februalia,  It is still a celebration for modern Pagans today, and is considered part of their spiritual journey. As children we were taught that pagan beliefs were non-religious beliefs.  Modern Paganism today is a collective term for new religious movements influenced by or claiming to be derived from the various historical pagan beliefs of pre-modern Europe, North Africa and the Near East.   Does February have any other distinctions? February frequently occurs in lists of the most commonly misspelled words in the English language.  The Americans have trouble with the word February too – last year, a press release from the White House consistently spelt it as Feburary.  Much Ado About Nothing is the only Shakespeare play that mentions February.  February is the only month that can pass with no full moon. This occurred in 2018.  As February closes and Martch starts, we move into the ancient Romans' New Year. March is packed with familiar holidays and events:  daylight saving time, celebrations of Pi Day on 3/14, St. Patrick's Day, the Vernal Equinox and the start of Spring occur, and this year, we celebrate Easter. The budget news that made me smile is the reopening of the Kingston prison farms, closed by the Harper government as a cost-saving measure. There have been protests outside the prison every week for the past 8 years.  They vowed to remain there until "the cows come home."  There is a long article HERE.  The snow drops, snow crocuses, winter aconites, witch hazel and pussy willows are blooming.  These miniature daffodils were in the conservatory at RBG.

A Dog's Breakfast

How did a dog's breakfast get such a bad reputation? in the 1937 Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, the expression is listed as "a mess."  It is suggested that this dates from before the time of canned dog food when a dog's breakfast consisted of dinner leftovers from the night before.  This should not be confused with "a dog's dinner" which means the opposite and is normally expressed as "all dressed up like a dog's dinner" and sarcastically means over-dressed or showy.  This comes from makingheadsortailsofidioms.com where the list of expressions is quite fun.  More on the dog's dinner from a New York Times article ON LANGUAGE: Dog's Breakfast: "Why have you got those roses in your hair?" asked a character in "Touch Wood," a 1934 novel by C. L. Anthony. "You look like the dog's dinner ." This expression was defined by the Oxford English Dictionary Supplement as "dressed or arranged in an ostentatiously smart or flashy manner," probably derived from the 1871 usage "to put on the dog ."   And lest we forget, the New York Times examines the well-worn expression - 'dog-eared.' I found this picture of Dezi on a spring search under the wisteria.  Is it for a dog's breakfast or a dog's dinner?

Beards on Parade

We can all think of a few famous historical figures with beards,  What is a beard?  Little did I know that it is a 'collection' of hair that grows on the chin and cheeks of humans and some non-human animals.  What I wondered about is the driver for the popularity of male beards. Were these famous men with the trend at the time or against it?  Beard popularity has waxed and waned a few times in my own lifetime. So beards have been linked with notions of masculinity and male courage, and cultures have mandated it or on the opposite side, considered it uncivilized.  It comes and goes. Trends have swayed back and forth over the centuries.  In modern times, there have been prohibitions of beards - in jobs where breathing masks are required - airline pilots, firefighters, etc. And sports has some traditions that are interesting. The Playoff beard is a tradition common with teams in the NHL.   The story of beards os extensive and one can read it in the book "Of Beards and Men" by Christopher Oldstone-Moore.   The link provides a summary of the book. Today we look at two more barns in the St. Catharines area, and the last picture is an abandoned house on Sann Road at the Lake, which is clearly about to become a mansion near the lake.

Another Hour

Another hour before Spring is here at 6:29am.   Poets have given us beautiful Spring verses for as long as there have been poets.  So let us revel in its first moments. In Spring, everything is full of promise.... The child sporting upon the lawn, and the season, sympathize together, and nature rejoices in her virgin loveliness. ~Charles Lanman, "The Dying Year," 1840 It was one of those March days when the sun shines hot and the wind blows cold: when it is summer in the light, and winter in the shade. ~Charles Dickens, Great Expectations It’s spring fever. That is what the name of it is. And when you’ve got it, you want — oh, you don’t quite know what it is you do want, but it just fairly makes your heart ache, you want it so! ~Mark Twain, Tom Sawyer, Detective The year’s at the spring And day’s at the morn; Morning’s at seven; The hillside’s dew-pearled; The lark’s on the wing; The snail’s on the thorn; God’s in His heaven - All’s right with the world! ~Robert Browning It was a lover and his lass, With a hey, and a ho, and a hey nonino, That o’er the green corn-field did pass, In the spring time, the only pretty ring time, When birds do sing, hey ding a ding, ding; Sweet lovers love the spring. (As You Like It, 5.3.15-20 Our Grimsby Garden Club members planted the town's hanging baskets yesterday at Trillium Hill Greenhouses, located at the west end of Grimsby.  This year, the group celebrated the event with a Lilitopia moment.

Almost Here

pring begins tomorrow at 6:29am.   Our weather yesterday was a fluffy snow fall, and with the ground soft, one could smell all the moisture.  That made it quite cold, too.  How does Accuweather.com predict daily weather into the beginning of May?  It gives the sense of a predictable weather pattern, although we experience otherwise. When I look out my office corner window, (not my corner office window) I can see the Niagara escarpment.  It is one of thirteen UNESCO World Biosphere Reserves in Canada.  The trail along it starts in Queenston. The cairn marking the trail's terminus is in a parking lot, about 160 metres (520 ft) from General Brock's Monument on the easterly side of the monument's park grounds. The trail concludes in Tobermory.  It is 850 kms long, with 400 km of side trails. The idea to create it came about in 1959, and the trail was set in motion in 1960, with regional clubs established along the length of the Trail.  Each club was responsible for obtaining landowner approvals, organizing trail construction, and maintenance efforts within their region of the trail.  The cairn at the northern terminus of the Bruce trail in Tobermory was unveiled in 1967 - Canada's Centennial Year.  It is the oldest and longest marked hiking trail in Canada. When Dezi and I go to Grimsby Beach, we walk one of the spur trails - a side trail from the escarpment to the Lake. We in Canada have the distinction of having the longest hiking trail in the world - the Trans Canada Trail.  It is 24,000 km. It is an astonishing length - the next longest trail in Italy is 5,954 kms long.  Today we say farewell to winter in pictures from yesterday's snowfall.

What's in a Name?

Elisabeth, Isabel, Izabel, Ebbie, Irene Isabella, Isabelle, Lyzbeth, Lisbeth, Eliza, Lisa, Lissa, Liza, Liz, Lizzie, Els, Elsa, Elza, Elisa, Belle, Bella, Betta, Beth, Betty, Bettie, Beetle, Bethany, Bess, Besse, Betsy, Buffy, Lily, Lilibeth, Bessie, Elisla, Liesl, Libby, Libbi, Lilla, Elspeth, Billie, Tizzy, Zabby, ... This is just a subset of the name variations for Elizabeth.  Perhaps because it is derived from Ancient Greek that it has so many variations in all major countries and languages. Its meaning in Hebrew  is "My God is an oath" or "My God is abundance".  The wikipedia section on statistics and name variants in use across the world tells us it has been among the 25 most popular names for the past 100 years. The name variant entries in Wikipedia are organized by full name, clipped forms, first half, middle, and second half.  And there is a separate section on nicknames. I wondered about the names with the most variants.  However, the search results were ask/answer websites. Many are targeted to naming babies with spelling variations to achieve a differentiated name.  I did find out that Shakespeare's name varied and there are six surviving signatures written by Shakespeare himself.  Most are abbreviated versions and it was a common practice then to use 'breviographic' conventions, or scribble abbreviations. Other examples given:  the name of Sir Walter Raleigh was written by his contemporaries either Raleigh, Raliegh, Ralegh, Raghley, Rawley, Rawly, Rawlie, Rawleigh, Raulighe, Raughlie, or Rayly. The name of Thomas Dekker was written either Dekker, Decker, Deckar, Deckers, Dicker, Dickers, Dyckers, or (interestingly enough) Dickens. So we dip into Spring today with our image of tree blossoms and the colour palette of spring on a heart of gold.

Which Weather Will It Be?

What about some icebreaker games?  One game is a series of questions and answers and one person picks up a question card and the next person an answer card.  Read aloud.  You can find them at icebreakerideas.com. Here are a few samples: Would you like to be a millionaire? No, once I tried, but it ended up a disaster. Would you like to find yourself in a harem? Being on the verge of despair only. Do you like music? Once, but only in a weak moment. Do you love children? I will answer you in private. Do you often have appointments? Only in the bathroom. Do you smoke? I dream about it after dinner. Here is a sample of the have you ever questions: Have you ever met a celebrity? Have you ever planted a vegetable garden? Have you ever been a car salesperson? Have you ever planned a wedding? Have you ever driven a riding lawn mower? Have you ever participated in a marathon? Have you ever gone mountain climbing? Have you ever had a dog compete in a dog show? Have you ever been somewhere while an earthquake occurred? Have you ever been somewhere while a hurricane occurred? Have you ever been on a college sports team? Have you ever played an instrument? Then there are the would you rather...questions Visit the doctor or the dentist? Eat broccoli or carrots? Be a giant rodent or a tiny elephant? Watch TV or listen to music? Have a beach holiday or a mountain holiday? Be an apple or a banana? Be invisible or be able to read minds? Make headlines for saving somebody’s life or winning a Nobel Prize? Always be cold or always be hot? Not hear or not see? Eliminate hunger and disease or be able to bring lasting world peace? Be stranded on a deserted island alone or with someone you don’t like? See the future or change the past? Our pictures today show what we will see in May in the Niagara orchards.

Bubbling Up

A search with Guinness Records in the terms will retrieve all sorts of things.  weareteachers.com has 11 Creative Ways to Use Guinness World Records' titles to teach math.  A search on creative teaching ideas for math includes many interesting approaches - like making a recipe for slime, using matchbox cars, using cheerios to practice multiplication, playing math bingo.  Guinness is appealing to the sense of wonder that children have.   Whatever search terms I've been using lately has been retrieving bubble records. I took a look at this topic. I found a site dedicated to word bubble records - most people in a bubble, largest free-floating soap bubble, people simultaneously blowing bubbles, largest bubble wall, biggest bubble, and so on. The master of bubbles is Fan Yang - Canadian bubble artist. He holds 16 world records in the field of bubbles.  He has done television and corporate performances all over the world, and produces a show, the Gazillion Bubble Showin New York City.   If you google 'fan yang bubble pictures' you will be astonished with what's been created.  There's a good article on him by the huffington post. I don't have any bubble pictures yet - today's picture shows the wisteria blooming at the Pierce Dupont house in Longwood Gardens.

Spring and Summer

I was at the Lincoln Rotary WingDing Festival on Friday evening.  It is a chicken wing festival, with live music, lots of food trucks and a view of Lake Ontario at sunset, as it takes place at Charles Daley Park in St. Catharines.  This is one of the beautiful parks with a natural lagoon where the big brown trout go to spawn.  It also has an endless sandy beach.   So someone at the festival told me there were water restrictions in the town of Grimsby.  This morning I looked it up and find that the Town of Lincoln has water practices every summer with the odd and even days of water for the home address that matches.  I've been told this is the worst drought year since the 1980's.  Today's pictures show the difference between the RBG Conservatory spring garden in April and in July.  Which do you like the most?

Spring Start

Wake Up on the Bright Side   This lane is situated along the lake in Beamsville.  For me it has the distinction of being where Ralph Suttell's dahlia growing garden is situated.   So I've photographed this row of apple trees along the lane quite a few times.  However, I've not known quite what to do with the photographs as there is a house in the background and the lane itself is unattractive.  Yesterday I did a little spruce-up with textures so that the pictures focus on the compressed row of trees arching up the hill.   Now they look like the start of Spring.