Well today has been long and hot…hmmm, must still be Summer. But there’s always a good side to everything if you look for it. I guess today’s good thing for me was that it didn’t storm again. Seems like here in Alabama it has been storming pretty regular lately. The lightning has been brilliant but it has done a lot of damage this season, we needed a day without it.
Tonight just before I started writing this post, I found a new tool on my blog dashboard which allows me to see what countries hits are coming from. I was totally shocked to see that my little blog has been read in quite a few countries across the world. Other than here in the United States, Romania has the second highest number of hits. Germany and Canada follow in that order in second and third. I couldn’t help but smile when I saw this…my little blog stretches all around the world.
For all of you that take time to read what I put out each week I’d just like to say thank you for reading. You can follow my blog simply by clicking the join this site button…that way you’ll never miss one. Comments are most welcome…even if you disagree with whatever I’ve said, it’s all good to me. Comments just let me know someone’s listening. For all of you from other countries this includes you too. Would love comments from places like Romania and Germany…don’t be shy, speak up.
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| United States | | | | | | | | | | 817 | | |
| Romania | | | | | | | | 48 | | | | |
| Germany | | | | | | | 40 | | | | | |
| Canada | | | | | | 38 | | | | | | |
| Netherlands | | | | | 32 | | | | | | | |
| United Kingdom | | | | 29 | | | | | | | | |
| Bulgaria | | | 27 | | | | | | | | | |
| China | | 27 | | | | | | | | | | |
| India | 21 | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Indonesia | 20 | | | | | | | | | | | |
Will Auburn’s woes over the whole Cam Newton recruitment deal ever really go away…well they haven’t yet. The New York Times has reported that the NCAA is not finished looking into the matter. The Auburn Tigers will more than likely be surrounded by controversy again this year.
The news that the investigation was not finished was made public last month in Destin FL at the Southeastern Conference meeting. Coach Gene Chizik was told in no uncertain terms by an NCAA official that “you’ll know when we’re finished and we’re not finished.”
One can only wonder at this point if Auburn will indeed start the season with this same controversy hanging over their heads. Personally I hope the issue is resolved before the players hit the field this fall. I think the season is going to be tough enough for Auburn as it is. I think that they may be fortunate this year if they win seven games. They aren’t going to need the added distractions.
After the tornado outbreak of April 27th 2011 we all now seem to be very weather aware. Darkening skies and the far off sound of thunder makes us a little jumpy and nervous. We have weather apps. on our phones and news/weather stations saved on our computers. So with all this information available to us at a moments notice…I have a question for all you part time meteorologist. Are the storms stronger now than they were say…five or ten years ago? Many say they are.
Some blame the stronger storms on global warming. While this seems a little far fetched to most I can’t bring myself to rule it out either. Global warming is supposed to be melting away the polar icecaps which would in turn put more moisture into the atmosphere. Moisture is one of the key ingredients for a thunderstorm to develop.
Another factor needed for storm development is heat. Heat provides the lift that a thunderstorm needs to grow and gain strength. Hmmm…could global warming actually be providing more heat to our planets atmosphere thus making our storms stronger here in the south? For that matter, storms all over the world the past couple of years have seemed increasingly devastating.
The other main player in building a strong storm is instability. This too can easily be attributed to global warming. More moisture and more heat equals more unstable air. So this takes me back to my question I asked…are storms stronger now than they used to be? Or perhaps do we just simply pay more attention than before…what do you think?
Well any trip to the river for me isn’t always about how many fish I can catch. The river is like a live show that you don’t need a ticket to see. Wildlife abounds and is visible in every direction. Schools of minnows often remind me of synchronized swimmers, darting to and fro and jumping out of the water all in unison. I can only imagine what was chasing them from below…five pound bass maybe.
I watched a beaver swimming along dragging a branch…where he actually took it I couldn’t tell you. In a little while he came back and a little ways up river from me he climbed out and disappeared into the bushes, I’m sure he was off to cut himself another. A small turtle popped his head up right in front of me just long enough to see me and grab a breath of air before he dived back out of sight. I understand why turtles have been around so long…they are very cautious creatures.
As all this was happening around me I had the pleasure of the river music in the background. The shoals below me always have a little roar to them and the insects behind me in the woods were also busy singing their songs and doing their things, you know…bug things. With exception of the turtle the wilderness around me took no notice of me and carried on their day as if I wasn’t even there. To me this evening was a success even without catching a fish. I took a little time to relax and wind down and that’s exactly what I did…you should try it sometime.
While on my way to a fishing tournament Friday afternoon (6-24-2011)I had to pull over and take a few pictures of the storm rolling into the city of Cullman Al. For those of you reading this outside the Cullman area, Cullman suffered major tornado damage on April 27th 2011 along with much of the southeast portion of the United States. This ominous looking storm I’m sure got many people’s attention as we are all now very weather aware.
As this storm came through our area there were some power outages reported but fortunately no tornadoes developed. The work is still ongoing to cleanup the entire county after the April storms. Thank God we didn’t get another round of severe damage to add insult to injury yesterday.
