RichC | September 28, 2022
From way up high, Hurricane Ian is a much more attractive (ani-gif above) … but suspect those Ian left under water and in its storm ravaged path in western Cuba … AND has nearly everyone in Florida chewing their nails while they brace for impact. (residents need a “Miracle on the Hudson” moment) Governor DeSantis […]
RichC | September 26, 2022
If you live in the southeastern US, you are likely watching Hurricane Ian this week. The likely path of this strengthening storm will bring it ashore somewhere on the western coast or panhandle of Florida, but the heavy rain and wind will be felt well inland.
RichC | September 19, 2022
Power is out in Puerto Rico with two-feet of rainfall after Hurricane Fiona came ashore. The Dominican Republic was saturated as well with flash flooding and mudslides as the category 2 hurricane slowly moved off the norther shore. As it moves over open water, it is forecast to strengthen as it passes Turks and Caicos […]
RichC | September 6, 2022
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RichC | August 21, 2022
While I generally do not plug things on My Desultory Blog, I do enjoy reading the paper edition of a couple of publications. Barron’s Magazine is my go-to weekend reading, but their shrinking size and poor delivery has me giving up on renewing again. If they would promise Saturday delivery again, perhaps with the WSJ, […]
RichC | June 21, 2022
On Tuesday’s solstice, everywhere north of the equator will receive at least 12 hours of daylight and everywhere south of that point will get less than 12 hours. The continental U.S. will get 14 to 16 hours of daylight, compared with eight to 10 hours on the winter solstice. “All the planets orbit the sun […]
RichC | June 15, 2022
Big storms ripped through our area on Monday night and left a mess of things in much of SW Ohio. Lots of tree damage and even a loss of power for 24+ hours in our neighborhood. I spent the lunch hour working with a couple of neighbors to clear our lane and yet still have […]
RichC | June 7, 2022
Brenda and I enjoyed our anniversary weekend staying around home, working in both the yard and for me painting on Sunday afternoon (Brenda helped out at a store short a pharmacist in Dayton). Slowly I’m making progress in painting the guest bedroom (pano photo below). Ceiling are done, walls have their first and second coat […]
RichC | June 4, 2022
Q: What do you call a religious person who claims that the end is near? Answer: A fanatic. Q: What do you call a secular person who claims that the end is near? Answer: An environmentalist. When my podcasts on my weekend playlist are finished and I’m still in the mood for some audio content, […]
RichC | May 26, 2022
I have put off buying diesel fuel for the Kubota mower and John Deere 330 as long as possible … but inevitably the reserve of 25 gallons stored in fuel jugs gets used up. It looks as if it is time to pay $$$ the inflated prices on fossil fuels — elections have consequences (pre-Russia invasion […]
RichC | April 25, 2022
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RichC | April 18, 2022
For a day after Easter, the weather sure doesn’t look like spring! https://myarchive.us/mp4/April2022FlurriesBringMayFlowers.mp4 Also testing WordPress automated mp4 plugin with added gray vs black border than my normal hardcode video from iPhone7plus in slow-motion with poster image below the break)
RichC | April 14, 2022
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RichC | April 10, 2022
We have put off replacing the pool tiles long enough as I’ve long ago burned through the spare tiles and have made repairs and replaced the damaged tiles so far myself, but there is only so much that can be done to salvage what still exists. It is time … or as most rational people […]
RichC | March 18, 2022
Each year I think I take a photo of either our flowers or trees coming back to life in the spring. I know from a quick search that there are at least ten posts similar to this one over the years … here is one from February 2017. Since this particular lilac plant can’t be […]
RichC | February 24, 2022
Last week I was talking to an online friend from Alaska about outdoor cold-weather activities who shared a winter camping photo. He was complaining about the freezing rain and less than ideal weather this year on his 20 mile snowmobile trip, so he cut it short and drove to Wasilla to watch the start of […]
RichC | February 10, 2022
In early February 2022, most of the U.S. received a heavy ice and snow storm. There were quite a few shared photos on the social networks and an animated GIF of a huge snowman triggered memories of our Hudson, Ohio winters in NE Ohio. Back then I had an old Ford 800 that I used […]
RichC | February 8, 2022
Trusting the weather on my Fitbit Versa watch isn’t much better than referring to the Farmer’s Almanac for daily weather forecasts. I’m starting to wonder who is feeding the information for our area. All I can see is sun … where’s the RAIN? Yes .. I really do know that it’s probably an iPhone to […]
RichC | February 8, 2022
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RichC | January 29, 2022
Although I don’t place all that much faith in forecasting weather, I don’t mind seeing the Farmer’s Almanac predict a relatively mild February 2022 prediction. Sunny and turning mild is something to look forward to next month … even these GIFFY rabbits are “looking up” with interest. HA! Ah, memories of Pumpy Umpy. Front yard and […]
RichC | December 9, 2021
Since the post scheduled for today is for those who have signed-in (you should register) … I’m adding this one as a public filler for the day. These week we had our first slick road for the season with a touch of snow … and as it does every year, triggered an accident on the […]
RichC | December 6, 2021
I took a quick photo as the Moon and Venus are lit up by the sun well down in our evening sky in the Cincinnati, Ohio area. Cold, clear and beautiful. Be watching for Saturn and Jupiter!
RichC | November 18, 2021
Every once in a while a memory gets triggered … and it happened while looking in my closet for a fleece or sweater with the weather turning colder. The photo below is from Christmas in 1990 and it seemed apropos for today’s Throwback Thursday #TBT. For the record, it was taken in Jamestown, NY at […]
RichC | November 11, 2021
Our driveway project is semi-wrapped up, but the landscaping company has yet to deliver our topsoil and river rock. The Creech’s rep did update me with a tentative date later this month, so we shall see if the weather holds them back again? I finally moved the construction cones a couple weeks ago and we […]
RichC | November 9, 2021
After learning to tie a Monkey Fist knot this past year, I decided to make a couple Christmas ornaments for my granddaughters. I was planning to attach them to their presents in December, but Brenda suggested they should have them before Christmas so that they could hang them on their tree. Yikes, now I need […]
RichC | October 5, 2021
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RichC | September 22, 2021
As we shift from summer to autumn, those of us living north of the Mason-Dixon line have to prepare and wonder just what is in store when it comes to winter weather? Although I’m not a big follower of the Farmer’s Almanac, I recognized that they have an 80% record over 230 years in predicting […]
RichC | September 1, 2021
Who knew we would be having so much rain in late August? It has been a pain for the crew trying to finish our concrete driveway project … but the “big pours” should be done for now and “I hope” they will be back to address a puddling issue in the rear (something I mentioned […]
RichC | August 29, 2021
A delayed post updating the Category 4 Hurricane Ida that hit the coast of Louisiana just west of New Orleans packing winds nearing Cat 5 strength. The storm surge over 10 feet will test improvements made after Hurricane Katrina hit nearly the same area in 2005 .. in the first year of my daily blog […]
RichC | August 27, 2021
Now that I’m spending more time working from my home office than ever before, I’m shock that I didn’t improve the comfort in my south west corner office before this year? The mini split AC unit has made a world of difference in controlling the temperature … and started me thinking about growing up without […]
RichC | August 21, 2021
The Milky Way Over Monument Valley, 2012. APOD/NASA This was a great Milky Way photo from 2012 and gives me inspiration if Brenda and I ever do a US road trip. I’d love to plan one once we are retired, but road trips and “the journey vs destination” (and inside joke) are really not Brenda’s […]
RichC | August 4, 2021
TIDBIT: Although Jupiter and Saturn can look “relatively close” from our perspective, they are actually 456 million miles apart. Saturn is nearly twice as far away as Jupiter. We have had a few unusually cool evenings for early August (50-60F degrees) and the clear skies have me looking up. For stargazers and amateur sky watchers, […]
RichC | July 13, 2021
The downside of having self-monitored smarthome security cams, sound sensors, door triggers and motion detection at the Florida condo in Delray Beach is that one never knows what will set it off. Usually it has been a flash of light or in a couple cases a slightly weakened battery on a sensor. Yesterday though, even […]
RichC | July 12, 2021
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RichC | June 26, 2021
Last weekend we had thunderstorms and tornado warning that dumped buckets of rain in our area. Thankfully no damage or serious flooding, but I did check on the sump and backyard pumps … I even added my spare pump to the pit in order to keep the water that builds up in the retention area […]
RichC | June 22, 2021
Spent a lot more time this past weekend picking up branches, pumping out the pool and even set up a pump in the backyard to prevent flooding the pool. Thankfully no tornadoes on the ground, but the lightning, wind and rain was wild. Below is a video snippet … turned animated gif out the back […]
RichC | June 1, 2021
The robin eggs in the back porch (earlier in May above) wreath Brenda made from her grandmother’s grapevines years ago, have hatched Below was day one (left) and day two (right) … as Brenda commented … “you should wait until they’re a bit cuter.” The weather was “so-so” this past Memorial Day weekend, but since […]
RichC | May 11, 2021
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RichC | April 22, 2021
After just finishing cutting the lawn on Tuesday night and working on our landscaping this past weekend in anticipation of a cold front with some “expected rain,” it ended up coming down as SNOW! I mean, come on, it is the time of year to be thinking sunshine, warmer weather and flowers .. not snow. […]
RichC | March 13, 2021
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RichC | February 15, 2021
Click here for ani-gif above for full 25 second iPhone slow-motion video The icy sleet on top of our existing snow and pre-cleared roads has made travel dangerous this Monday afternoon in southwest Ohio. Thankfully for President’s Day Brenda and I are home (although it was by chance and not planned) and are able to […]
RichC | February 13, 2021
We live in a fairly developed area and yet the variety of animals surviving amidst the traffic and people continues to amaze me. When we built in Liberty Township, Ohio in the mid-1990s you would have called our area “developing but rural.” Now, there is no question we are suburban and “in my opinion” … […]
RichC | February 10, 2021
We received a surprise snowfall on Monday night this week and it caught most of us, including the weather people and snowplows off-guard. Brenda worked until close in Oxford, Ohio and it took her nearly an hour and a half to drive home .. no salt on the roads and very few snowplows were out. […]
RichC | December 19, 2020
Although this is the second snow of the season, the weather has turned colder and we ended up with a touch more of the white stuff this week … and with it, yet another accident on Bethany Road to our rear. I saw the flashing sheriff’s car lights and since I’m working from home, I […]
RichC | December 2, 2020
December 2020 rolled in with a light white blanket of snow and colder weather to let us know that winter is probably here for a while. I can’t say that I’m looking forward to the temperature change, but I really don’t mind the hushed beauty of a “new-fallen snow” … as Clement Clarke Moore wrote […]
RichC | November 19, 2020
If the active record-breaking hurricane season wasn’t enough to have you questioning the idea of moving to Florida, how about a 2000 pound great white shark off Miami, alligators that are straight out of the Jurassic Period on a Naples, FL golf course or constrictor snakes slithering out of the Everglades large enough to compete […]
RichC | September 24, 2020
We had our first taste of cooler fall weather for 2020 last week as the hot 80+ degree days of August and early September gave way to pleasant mid-to-high 70s and cooler evenings dipping into the 40s. Brr, my body has not adjusted yet. As autumn approaches and the temperatures are more tolerable in the […]
RichC | August 28, 2020
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RichC | August 27, 2020
As the Gulf of Mexico coast of Louisiana and Texas prepare for Hurricane Laura (as well as areas well inland), we got a taste of the kind of rain that might also be headed our way as this tropical weather works its way north. A strong thunderstorm swept through our area on Wednesday night this […]
RichC | August 24, 2020
Oh how the simplest humor can trigger a music flashback, at least for me! I’m not sure everyone’s brain operates like this, but the song Under Pressure from 1981/82 by Queen, and the late great David Bowie, is the first thing that came to mind when seeing the above image. Feeling Under Pressure? Perhaps you […]
RichC | August 19, 2020
Since I spent most of the weekend outside again doing chores and projects as the weather has been great … I spotted a couple of insects enjoying summer as well. The normal bugs don’t grab my attention, but the brightly colored and unusual ones are worthy of photos (still impressed with the camera on my […]
RichC | August 16, 2020
After doing a little research on different kinds of Clematis, I thought I had the perfect pick for the rear corner of the pool house garage where I often work outside the back door. Something that stayed green a bit longer in the year like Evergreen Clematis sounded perfect … but the “Plant Hardiness Zone […]
RichC | August 2, 2020
While working on a few chores this Sunday, I checked on the path and strength of Hurricane now Tropical Storm Isais. It has moved just a bit more to the east than expected so for those who are on the east coast of Florida, take a deep breath. The storm could still pack strong winds, […]
RichC | July 27, 2020
… or maybe the hand of the Michelin Man (photo) if you are not a person of faith. 
RichC | July 27, 2020
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RichC | July 10, 2020
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RichC | June 3, 2020
Every once in a while when seeing what cellphone cameras can do, I wonder why I even bother to ever grab my camera bag and relatively expensive DSLR camera anymore? Last night the weather in Cincinnati was clear and humidity low. The moon was large and rising in the sky in the southeast and looks […]
RichC | May 26, 2020
It is never as easy as expected? I’m accustom to opening the pool each season now that I’ve been doing it for 20+ years in Cincinnati and another 5 or so in Hudson before that. Each season it should get easier, right? Nope. There always something … and the job is MUCH more challenging to […]
RichC | May 24, 2020
It has been a slow start to getting our yard in shape. By now we usually have the pool open and flowers planned, but for some reason (probably rain) we are not ready for summer. Thankfully though, Saturday was nice most of the day. I waited as long as possible to add a few brown […]
RichC | May 19, 2020
The heavy rain overnight continued to add to our COVID19 spring misery, as SW Ohio is under flood warning. The warning started last night and after double checking our Zoeller pumps (shouldn’t really expecting them to do much considering just how much rain comes down). Two of the pumps keep our basement from flooding and […]