Potpori

Willsboro Bay
No LL

A big thunderstorm came rolling across Willsboro Bay as we sat here yesterday. I wish I had a video of it as I watched it come in.

Just to the West of us is a big mountain that blocks our view to the West. The storm came rolling in over this mountain. If not for the advance sound of thunder, it would have come upon us by surprise with only moments notice. Anyhow, I sat in the cockpit and watched it approach. Part of the scene took my breath away. The up drafts from the storm tore bits of moisture away from the mountain side and carried it up to the sky as bits of newly formed cloud. The velocity of those ascending cloud bits being sucked up into the maw of the storm stunned me. I used to be a glider pilot and I'm used to seeking out vertical wind currents to lift the glider. These currents however were so swift that they would likely rip the wings off the glider resulting in a very expensive and possibly fatal accident. If the wings didn't rip off, the glider would have been sucked to the top of the storm, perhaps 25,000 feet where the pilot (me) would pass out from lack of oxygen. Then it would be pushed to the side of the storm where the down drafts are. Use your imagination to fill in the rest.

Change of subject. Listening to the radio while not seeing TV or newspapers makes one pay attention only to the sound of words. In the past few days the news talked about the conflict between the Chinese Han and Uighurs. My heart goes out to all the people suffering there. I would never make a joke about them. I can however, joke about American culture and American Media. As an American, and as a consumer of American media, I was struck by the word Uighur. My first reaction was that a Weeger (pronounced Veeger) is a silicon based life form that tunnels through rock. Mr Spock did a Vulcan mind meld with an ailing Weeger once and Mr. Scott healed it with a trowel of concrete. What an image -- Chinese versus Weegers. Today I heard someone on radio pronounce the word as Weegos. That conjured up a very different image. I though of WiiGos; the little cartoon figures that you create in a Wii game to represent yourself on the screen. Imagine hoards of WiiGos versus the Chinese Army. Tee hee. My apologies to the Uighurs for making fun with their name.

Another new subject: Today, my son John and his friend Paul are coming to Tarwathie for a 3 day sail. It will be a guys thing. Libby is taking their car back to John's house. She'll spend time with the grandkids while us guys ply the lake. Tomorrow's forecast is bleak, but Friday sounds better. I really hope we get some good sailing weather for these two soldiers. They deserve it. After Friday, the extended forecast calls for 4 more gray cool days with 30% chance of rain every day. Bah.