Saturday: 10:05 am: Rain finally arrived yesterday, a day later than expected. No torrential downpours just steady rainfall throughout the day. We were on the road on and off during the day for our weekly shopping trip to Presque Isle. All is taken care of and can I resume my place in the food chain, hopefully somewhere in the middle.

We visited our new neighbor during the week. Our road is very international; besides a sprinkling of Canadians and people “from away”; we have people from Germany, England and Belarus living close to us. Across town there is another person from Romania. This might upset [to use Henry Kissinger’s term] “The Balance of Power” in the local community. Some think we’re Fifth Columnists for something as yet to be determined. International politics juxtaposed with rural America, how very intriguing. The possibilities are unlimited. I like that idea. Your passport please and no slouching!

So much for being politically and regionally insensitive again; there is somewhere in this text, something weather-related. Usually that’s less interesting; unless you are into number crunching and other minutia. I’d rather be looking online for famous Jonathan Winters quotes from it’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad World. Apparently I have too much free time.

Current values from our wireless Davis Vantage-Pro weather station:

Temperature: 68.7° [F.]

Barometer: 29.773 & steady

Humidity: 83%

Wind: N at 5 mph very light & variable

Visibility: > 3 miles under cloud base

Skies: 100% overcast

Precipitation: None

Precipitation yesterday: .37 inch – rain

Since midnight:

Low temperature: 64.6° [F.]

High wind: 13 mph at 4:09 am

Thursday, 11:00 am: Lots of high and thickening clouds today, and possibly rain according to the NWS. All outdoor chores were done yesterday, so I am content to let it pour today. We’ll see though; the humidity isn’t particularly high, and the [unscientific] joints in my knees and hips don’t ache enough. My arthritis just isn’t very accurate for weather prediction.

My wife drove into town a short while ago to deliver some fresh vegetables from our garden to a friend. I think we may have planted too much this year and have a surplus. I can eat only so many peas, beans, carrots and squash. I’m assured these are all organic and very healthy [hmm] for me. I’ll need to remember this when I’m planted in the ground myself. Hopefully I’ll live a long life, but death is always longer, no matter what I eat, organic or otherwise.

As a write this blog, I’m tuning around on my ham radio to see if there is any action on the HF bands. I’m listening for Europe which seems to be in the noise at the moment. Last night I worked into Italy and Romania and a few states here in the Northeast on Morse Code. I’m an old timer who still uses code. The newest hams think of it as a relic of the past. But on to our weather which is up-to-date.

If any readers of this blog who receive an email update notification and would like to be removed from the update list please send a return email and you will be removed. Cheers!

Current values from our wireless Davis Vantage-Pro weather station:

Temperature: 63.9° [F.]

Barometer: 30.159 & falling slowly

Humidity: 57%

Wind: Calm

Visibility: >3 miles under thickening cloud base

Precipitation: None

Since midnight:

Low temperature: 43.3° [F.] at 4:47 am

High wind: 13 mph at 8:46 am

Tuesday, 11:30 am: It’s another wonderful day for outside work. Blog writing will, no doubt, be kept to a minimum, besides the writer within me seems to be on strike. The past few days the weather was too predictable and events unremarkable. Yesterday we had a Freeze Warning from the NWS in Caribou, which didn’t materialize: Luckily, for us, the NWS prefers to error on the side of safety. The barometer on our weather station has been steadily rising over the past few days and the skies clearing.

Ducks behaving badly

On Sunday we went to our amateur radio club’s annual picnic at the Cross Lake picnic area. It was very blustery and a bit brisk. Jackets in August! For a few hours we were a hardy group of picnickers bundled up and enjoying ourselves, talking radio, antennas, computers, and most things electronic. No technology gap here.

That’s it for today. My brain, once again, is running on empty. It's time to get recharged.

Current values from our wireless Davis Vantage-Pro weather station:

Temperature: 62.8° [F.]

Barometer: 30.240 & steady

Humidity: 54%

Wind: W at 5 mph light & variable

Visibility: > 3 miles

Skies: Scattered cloudiness - light fog earlier

Precipitation: None

Since midnight:

Low temperature: 39.3° [F.] at 4:44 am

High wind: 12 mph at 11:18 am

Friday, 9:15 am: The rain has stopped and the sky is clear, so there’s no procrastinating today; I’ve got to mow our lawn and pull a few weeds in our vegetable garden [the nearly extinct Homo sapien domesticus]. The next thing you know I’ll be patting myself on my back for the work I’ve alleged was done.

At the moment, my wife is on the telephone to her extended family in the old country in downtown Europe [Germany]. Since The Wall came down in 1989 contact with her family in the East has exponentially increased over the years. I am reasonably certain new family members will continue to be found as time goes on, but at a slower rate though.

So on to weather: Yesterday started out very comfortable and it began to deteriorate when we drove to Presque Isle for a doctor’s appointment. By midday it was raining in Presque Isle. On the return drive home it was pouring, which continued on and off throughout the evening. As I mentioned in the first paragraph today’s weather is clear for the moment. Of course I could make the entire day easier by turning on my NOAA weather radio. Nah!

Current values from our wireless Davis Vantage-Pro weather station:

Temperature: 58.3° [F.]

Barometer: 29.827 & rising slowly

Humidity: 70%

Wind: Calm

Visibility: > 3 miles

Skies: Clear

Precipitation: .01 inch – rain

Precipitation yesterday: .11 inch – rain

Since midnight:

Low temperature: 42.3° [F.] at 5:52 am

High wind: 6 mph at midnight

Wednesday, 1:30 pm: It’s wet weather once again here in the Saint John Valley. Although I am no fan of drizzle, it has postponed my yard work and I am able to loaf through the day. Today started out partially cloudy, and we hoped for a pleasant day which never materialized. Naturally, I was out watering our garden and lawn earlier; which pretty much assured me that it would rain later in the day. Why, that’s magic!

The ham radio bands are not very good at the moment. There is a high noise-level and I only hear the occasional high power station. Perhaps later this evening the noise will dissipate and the various radio frequencies will improve. Of course television is an option, but I am not a big fan of game shows or soap operas. Into my stack of DVDs . . .

We are still in limbo [once again] regarding cell phone and high-speed wireless Internet service in our area. Depending on who you believe; it either somewhere in the pipeline, or delayed for some scenery-related issue. We gotta [sic] stay rustic or tourists won’t visit, or so they believe – whoever “they” are. If we are not careful the 21st Century will bite us on our behinds and we’ll be left by the wayside. There seems to be a self-inflicted "Technology Gap" here. It reminds me of the Peter Sellers’ film, Dr. Strangelove, when George C. Scott is rambling on about not having a "Mine Shaft Gap". Of course they all blew up in the end and nobody won. Now I am rambling on.

Current values from our wireless Davis Vantage-Pro weather station:

Temperature: 59.9° [F.]

Barometer: 29.694 & falling slowly

Humidity: 100%

Wind; SSW at 1 mph very light & variable

Visibility: < 2 miles

Skies: Low overcast

Precipitation: .08 inch rain

Since midnight:

Low temperature: 53.4° [F.]

High wind: 10 mph at 10:56 am

Tuesday, 9:25 am: After a period of self-induced inertia, this writer is once again blogging. So on to today’s mental hologram. As usual, there’s a lot to do around the old homestead. Our lawn is growing so quickly that I am on a three to four day cutting schedule. Luckily our riding lawnmower does the leg work; I just point and cut, occasionally dodging low hanging tree limbs, as I want to keep my head attached between my shoulders so I can see where I am going.

Our ursine neighbor -- Ursus americanus -- Black Bear

Cosmo, our Border Collie, is sitting next to me on his pillow, and appears to be supervising my writing. I think he is really waiting for a cookie and could care less what I am doing as long as he is somewhere in the food [snack] chain.

No more severe weather since our last tornado warning two weekends ago. Somehow I envisioned Wizard of Oz. type of weather, which didn’t pan out. Luckily Margaret Hamilton* didn’t show up and move it up a notch.

This past weekend was my Mel Brooks movie marathon on our DVD player. Of the three films we watched, it’s tough to say which movie I enjoyed the most. But I’ll live with that uncertainty, it make’s life more interesting.

* Margaret Hamilton played the Wicked Witch of the West.

Current values from our Davis Vantage-Pro weather station:

Temperature: 56.4° [F.]

Barometer: 29.864 & rising slowly

Humidity: 76%

Wind: NW at 3 mph light & variable

Visibility: > 3 miles under cloud base

Skies: Variable cloudiness, ca. 50% cover

Since midnight:

Low temperature: 46.4° [F.] at 3: 25 am

High wind: 10 mph at 9:07 am

Monday, 8:15 am: It’s eerily foggy outside. The sun is a fuzzy silver-gray disk in this morning’s sky. The view from my window is reminiscent of a great old black and white horror movie from the 1930s, minus the scratched and flickering frames. It’s a Stephen King novel kind of a morning. So it’s has to be great!

But that’s weather and I am opinionated on just about everything that’s not weather. Regrettably I’ll try and stay focused on my observations of what’s going on above my head in the sky, although the distance between my head and the sky isn’t so great. Hmm, I wonder where one begins and the other ends? This morning’s ground fog seems to be seeping into my brain – again. It must be those hail stones that klonked me on the head.

Last night, we had some animal[s], probably larger than a rabbit, outside that caused our dogs to bark on and off throughout the night. I wasn’t quite awake enough, or motivated enough, to see what it was. I just wanted some solid sack time. The barking, and absence of sleep, has taken its toll on me this morning; as I am not too inclined to ramble on. I think I just saw a leprechaun scamper down the road. Stay tuned!

Current values from our Davis wireless Vantage-Pro weather station:

Temperature: 52° [F.]

Barometer: 29.917 & falling slowly

Humidity: 100%

Wind: Calm

Visibility: < 500 yards & increasing steadily

Skies: Ground fog burning off

Precipitation: None

Since midnight:

Low temperature: 43° [F.] at 5:47 am

High wind: 3 mph at 8:12 am

Sunday, 12:35 pm: Just a very brief blog today. After writing my blog yesterday the NWS in Caribou issued a tornado warning for our area. As it progressed, we were directly in the path of the storm. Luckily no tornado touched down or funnel cloud observed. We did, however have very large hail, one to two inches in diameter [see accompanying photos]. I was on the phone almost nonstop to the NWS in Caribou, reporting my observations. Oddly it was very loud, almost like a jet roar, but no funnel cloud to be seen. More oddly, on the ground our wind speed was almost calm less than 5 mph, but the clouds were blowing very fast as was the rotation within the clouds. The entire event took less than one hour. Phew!

Current values from our wireless Davis Vantage-Pro weather station:

Temperature: 65° [F.]

Barometer: 29.945 & steady

Humidity: 54%

Wind: WNW at 5 mph light & variable

Visibility: > 3 miles

Skies: Scattered High cloudiness

Precipitation: None

Precipitation yesterday: .25 inch – rain

Since midnight:

Low temperature: 51.7° [F.] at 5:22 am

High wind: 14 mph at 8:57 am

Saturday, 10:05 am: Over the past few days we’ve had lots of lightning, thunder and rain. My trusty computer has been unplugged most of the time, therefore no blogging. I didn’t want to press my luck with power surges from frequent nearby lightning strikes. I still don’t trust surge protectors 100%, although in the past, they have worked when I needed them to work, and they worked fast too.

The construction of our local cell phone tower has been delayed yet again [Gee what a surprise!]. Sighfully, and as I roll my eyes, it seems living on the backside of the moon equates to living in the 1940s or1950s with limited and outdated technology. It’s just not part of their traditional lifestyle. Or as the local folks say; “Aroostook County; the way life used to be.” And as I say, “. . . . they want to keep it like that.”

In-between our recent rains I did manage to cut our lawn and get the clippings raked up before it poured again. Our garden is growing rapidly, and our assortment of vegetables will most likely be a bumper crop this year. Over the last few years our garden has gone organic with no herbicides or insecticides, which translates into the entire gardening endeavor being more labor intensive. Ultimately I still eat my fair share of canned veggies and fruit, not to mention lots of processed food. I still like Hostess Ding Dongs – really. But never mind, I’ll be sipping some espresso soon.

Current values from our wireless Vantage-Pro weather station:

Temperature: 71.8° [F.]

Barometer: 29.810 & steady

Humidity: 79%

Wind: Calm

Visibility: < 3 miles under cloud base

Skies 100% low overcast

Precipitation: .01 inch – rain

Precipitation yesterday: .58 inch – rain

Since midnight:

Low temperature: 59.6° [F.] at 5:25 am

High wind: 7 mph at 3:05 am