Tag: derecho

Bad air

on the wife’s birthday

stolen from Don Levy, who stole it from someone else

It was Wednesday, 15 July, my wife’s birthday. My wife and I were in bed c. 7 a.m., but hadn’t gotten up. Even with the shades drawn, we knew it looked weird out. Where is the sun?

By the time we got downstairs, I had figured it out: bad air. The poor air quality was SUPPOSED to hit Syracuse, to the west of Albany, and Poughkeepsie, to the south, but the Capital District was supposed to be spared. Obviously, no one told the wind that information.

Because of the magpie thing, I briefly became obsessed with the AQI or Air Quality Index, not just in my area but in suburban Washington, DC, where I have a good friend who is vulnerable. I noticed that, at one point in the past week, Duluth, MN was horrific. I signed up for notifications. 

Here’s an article explaining this further.

Forecasts Current AQI Values Levels Colors

Naturally, FOTUS threatened new Canada tariffs over fires sending ‘filthy’ air into US cities. I could note that the US actions cutting environmental protection has escalated global warming (see much of Europe in 2026.) Theoretically, the US could send help to fight the fires, though it appears to be another robust fire season in the United States.

Natal day stuff

My wife noted that weird stuff can happen on her birthday. In 1995, a derecho, a straight line wind event started in the Midwest and eventually struck the Adirondacks and Albany. A derecho is “a line of intense, widespread, and fast-moving windstorms and sometimes thunderstorms that moves across a great distance and is characterized by damaging winds.” Those 70+ mph winds rattled the windows and woke us both from a sound sleep a little before 7 a.m.

It tore up some trees in nearby Washington Park. But a member of our then-church had dozens of broken bones when a tree fell on her up in the aforementioned Adirondacks.

Matt & Sweat, and derecho anniversary

The Wife went to college in the North Country, and taught school in the midst of the Adirondack mountains.

matt_sweatOnce upon a time, I used to complained that The Wife did not follow the news enough, mostly because events I thought were commonly known, she was unaware of. She does pay more attention now, checking out 5 minutes of the NPR news each weekday morning, plus catching news at other times of the day.

There was one recent story for which she definitely took notice, which was two convicted murderers, Richard Matt and David Sweat, breaking out of prison, the Clinton Correctional Facility at Dannemora in (WAY) upstate New York on June 6. Truth is that it would have been very difficult to have avoided, with the local cable news station using special dramatic music frequently while the men were loose.

The prison break ended with Matt being shot and killed, and a few days later, on June 28, Sweat being shot but captured alive. It was such a great soap opera that people were casting characters for what seems to be an inevitable TV movie. Some folks were sad that the situation ended. The Wife was NOT one of those people, and she was a bit bummed that Sweat was brought to Albany Medical Center, only a couple miles from our home, for treatment.

She seemed to relate to the vastness of northern New York. She went to college in the North Country and taught school in the midst of the Adirondack mountains. Part of her interest was her concern for those isolated folks in their homes and summer cabins, some of the latter of which Matt and Sweat did break into.

That said, she was bemused by the saga, which involved one prison employee, Joyce Mitchell, who was apparently romantically involved with one or both of the prisoners, procuring tools for the breakout. Mitchell put them in some ground beef, froze it, and then gave the meat to another prison worker to give to the felons. Both employees have been indicted.

True: the Daughter knows more about this case than either my wife OR myself.
***
I should also note that this is the 20th anniversary of a derecho that started in the Midwest and eventually struck the Adirondacks and Albany. A derecho is “a line of intense, widespread, and fast-moving windstorms and sometimes thunderstorms that moves across a great distance and is characterized by damaging winds.” Those 70+ mph winds rattled the windows and woke us both from a sound sleep a little before 7 a.m.

It tore up some trees in nearby Washington Park. But a member of our church had dozens of broken bones when a tree fell on her up in the aforementioned Adirondacks.
***
Happy birthday to my bride. I love you.

Social media & sharing icons powered by UltimatelySocial