Rides, ramblings and rants on a motorcycle.
- We are scientists, too!
11.30.2006,8:03 AM
Old Man Winter
I've tried to escape Old Man Winter for the past ten years, but it's an excercise in futility.
As I feared, I am iced in. Ice coats my windows, doors, porch, the ground, my vehicles, the grass....... It's everywhere. That amazing state of water that defies the laws of friction and reduces all moving objects to aimless trajectory paths with unpredictable consequences.
There's a car in the ditch and injected into the neighbor's pasture roadside fence. He's going to be mighty mad; he just repaired it two weeks ago. My other neighbor's truck is home; no school today (he's a teacher in Fort Worth).
I woke to the loud pitter-pattering pelting of freezing rain early this morning, the wind wheezing through any crevices it can find and rattling the vents on the roof.
My thermometer reads "26 F". Who knows what the wind chill factor is.
I won't be going anywhere until the temp rises and some of this ice melts.
I've tried to flee Old Man Winter and he still makes its presence known to me every so often. He's visiting in force today and laughing.
I bet the view of Dallas from the lab on the thirteenth floor is awesome.
And its freezing rain pelting again.......
Addendum (11:30 am): I live on a country road and off an 'S' curve. My private gravel road is on the corner of one of those curves, a blind 90-degree turn.
It's icy outside, freezing rain. From my front window, 1/4 mile off of the main road, I see another accident with a State patrol car, firetruck and tow truck. A hedge blocks the view of the corner apex, but I can infer that the incident occurred there. Again.
I always caution drivers and riders on all wheels about this curve. You can't see oncoming traffic in either direction and the corner is unmarked from one direction. Both four wheels and two wheels have gone off the road here. According to statistics, the most common cause of accidents is inattention, not speeding. Add unsafe road conditions to that and the results can be tragic.
So y'all be careful out there and pay attention to everything around you.
As I feared, I am iced in. Ice coats my windows, doors, porch, the ground, my vehicles, the grass....... It's everywhere. That amazing state of water that defies the laws of friction and reduces all moving objects to aimless trajectory paths with unpredictable consequences.
There's a car in the ditch and injected into the neighbor's pasture roadside fence. He's going to be mighty mad; he just repaired it two weeks ago. My other neighbor's truck is home; no school today (he's a teacher in Fort Worth).
I woke to the loud pitter-pattering pelting of freezing rain early this morning, the wind wheezing through any crevices it can find and rattling the vents on the roof.
My thermometer reads "26 F". Who knows what the wind chill factor is.
I won't be going anywhere until the temp rises and some of this ice melts.
I've tried to flee Old Man Winter and he still makes its presence known to me every so often. He's visiting in force today and laughing.
I bet the view of Dallas from the lab on the thirteenth floor is awesome.
And its freezing rain pelting again.......
Addendum (11:30 am): I live on a country road and off an 'S' curve. My private gravel road is on the corner of one of those curves, a blind 90-degree turn.
It's icy outside, freezing rain. From my front window, 1/4 mile off of the main road, I see another accident with a State patrol car, firetruck and tow truck. A hedge blocks the view of the corner apex, but I can infer that the incident occurred there. Again.
I always caution drivers and riders on all wheels about this curve. You can't see oncoming traffic in either direction and the corner is unmarked from one direction. Both four wheels and two wheels have gone off the road here. According to statistics, the most common cause of accidents is inattention, not speeding. Add unsafe road conditions to that and the results can be tragic.
So y'all be careful out there and pay attention to everything around you.
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