Tales & Trails of a Traveling Wiseguy

The occasion slipped past me a few days ago due to my fits-and-starts blogging this month but Sunday, December 12, was the winter solstice. That means the days are finally getting longer!

Of course it's only by a minute or two a day that the days are getting longer now. It's going to be a while before it's not dark out at 5pm.

Recently it's been feeling like dusk starts by 4pm. And by 6:30pm it feels like it's late at night already with how long it's been dark out. Like I bemoaned two weeks ago, I'm just about ready for winter to be over. At least now it's here so I'm not complaining about winter when it's still only autumn. 😭

It's been a bit disorienting since we changed the clocks last week at the end of Daylight Saving Time. Remember, Fall Forward, Spring Back. 🤣 And I've been falling forward all week. I've been waking up early in the morning and pooping out early in the evening.

Waking up early, I don't mind so much. I mean, I'd prefer to get a bit more sleep instead of waking up at 6am. But it helps for days when I have 7am meetings— of which there were exactly too many this past week— and doesn't totally suck for slowly getting ready for 8am start days. The part that totally sucks is feeling ready for bed at 8pm.

The slightly disorienting part is the jarring change to my sense of what time it is based on sunset. For example, 10 minutes ago I would've guessed it was almost 7pm. It was only 5:25. It's been like that all week. This has happened in past years, too, of course. And its that past experience that tells me the time confusion will disappear quickly. Then I'll only have to deal with the fact that it's actually dark shortly past 5pm, if not sooner. 😣

This morning I wrote about the changing seasons. While changes such as wearing pants (instead of shorts), the rainy season starting, and the weather turning cool enough to need the heater at home are indicators that fall has arrived, fall here does not mean they happen every day. That's winter! And since it's just fall it turned out I didn't wear pants today. It was warm enough that I wore shorts and was comfortable.

Also, when I went out to the hot tub this morning it was already somewhat warm and... not gloomy.



The air temperature might have been only 66° F (19° C) but it felt warm with the sun shining. Yes, the sun was shining by not long after 11am. That's a change from most of this past week, when the sky remained gloomy into the afternoon. The overcast was part of why temperatures remained pants-appropriate. But today it warmed up to 73°. It almost felt like summer... especially after a cool summer this year in the region.

After a late-morning soak in the hot tub I went out for lunch, did some food shopping, and then came home and frittered— much as I expected I would today. But then around 5pm an Amazon delivery arrived. It included a pair of free-standing shelves we ordered to sub in for our pantry while our pantry is cleared out due to a plumbing leak.

Yes, that leak started 8 week ago now. We've left most of our pantry foods stacked up on our dining room table since then. But now we need to clear the table (and other surfaces in the dining room) because Hawk needs the space for nesting while she recovers from foot surgery that's scheduled at the end of this week.

Putting the shelves together was a fun bit of productivity. Now our dining table is mostly cleared off. That's the first step toward building a nesting spot in the dining room. It'll be similar to the last time Hawk build a nesting spot in the dining room... but this time slightly more organized with temporary furniture she can sit up on.

I noted ten days ago that the observed season of autumn had started. ...The observation being, "Hey, it's raining!" 🤣 Other observations I use to mark the start of fall and winter include "It's cool enough to turn the heat on in the house" and "It's cool enough that I prefer to wear trousers instead of shorts during the day." We're on the cusp of those markers now.

Yesterday evening I changed into pants to go out to dinner... not because I felt I needed to for fashion's sake but because I wanted to for comfort's sake in the cooling evening weather. Though as long as I was wearing pants for weather I classed it up to be fashionable by wearing a natty sport coat with an artfully folded pocket square.

Overnight it got cool enough outside that the temperature downstairs in our house was a brisk 66° (19° C) when I got up this morning. Up in the bedroom is was warmer, at about 68°. I hadn't actually felt cold overnight even though all I slept with was a light sheet and I'd left the bedroom balcony door open a few inches. Maybe chalk that up to reading articles recently that the ideal temperature for sleep is cooler than most people think. at 64-68°. (I'm glad my autonomous nervous system read those articles, too. 🤣)



As I got up and started puttering around the house with my normal breakfast routine it occurred to me that a soak in the hot tub would be a great way to shrug off the slight chill of the morning. I pulled on a light jacket for the walk out to the pool area. The jacket turned out not to be necessary as the air didn't feel that cold. Despite it being only about 62° the sun shine and lack of breeze made it feel warmer.

And once I got into the hot tub... well, all the thoughts of chilliness went away. Daaang, that water felt hot this morning! It was so hot it was bracing at first. Any weather is pool weather when the water's 103°!

It's been odd reading in the news about heat waves gripping the US as here in California it's been a cool summer. It's more than just a "This week it's cool out" phenomenon, though. It's been cooler than normal the past few months here in coastal California. I already knew that from my own gut sense (I notice the weather every day though I don't record it rigorously) but it was interesting to see it confirmed, and explained, in articles I read today when I looked up why it's such a thing that California is cooler than the rest of the US.

First, here's a picture of what I'm talking about:



This is a chart from a week ago. It shows that over a near-term forecast range (6-10 days) coastal California will have lower than average temperatures while much of the rest of the US is above normal.

As a specific example of what "Below" normal means, high temps the past few days around my home have averaged 76° F. That's 5° below the local average for this time of year. That's where my gut sense of it being cool comes from. A difference of a degree or two, I wouldn't notice. But a 5 degree difference, especially persistently, I do notice. And occasionally grouse about here in my blog because I look forward to enjoying summer-y summer weather!

As far as why there's this temperature discrepancy across the US, worsening summer heat waves are part of what's happening with global climate change. What's happening in California is an older, not-man-made pattern. A strong ocean current brings cold water from the Gulf of Alaska down to the Pacific coast of northern California. High pressure zones have been causing us to get winds from across the ocean. The wind cools over the cold water and acts like a natural air conditioner for coastal California. At some point the high pressure nexus will shift and winds will blow offshore.... Then we'll get heated air from the east blowing over us instead of cool ocean air. But for now the high pressure pattern is sticking in "A/C is ON" position.

A Cool Summer in Parts of California Doesn't "Disprove" Climate Change

It's sad I have to point this out, but I do. Beause there are climate idiots (not just skeptics but fools) out there who sneer when there's a cold week, "So much for ‘‘Global Warming’’!"

The existence of this cooling pattern in California does not contradict the existence or impact of human-caused Global Warming. As a recent blog on Weather West argues, 100 years ago this cool summer weather wouldn't have been unusual in California. The significant global warming of the last 50 years ago puts it at contrast with the new normal. And yes, there always will be "cold snaps" even in a world of global warming. There will always be winter blizzards, too, in Minneapolis and Buffalo. Global Warming is about the averages shifting in significant ways. Summers, in general, are getting more intense, and days of sub-zero winter weather in the snow belt are getting fewer.

Ever since I noted a few weeks ago, "It finally feels like spring", it has continued to be clear that spring has sprung. The weather hasn't always been pleasantly warm; the past week has had a few days of "Wow, it's oddly nippy out for late April/early May" temperatures, including this morning. But the air has continued to smell fresh pretty much every day and the flowers in the neighborhood are blooming.

Mixed among these cooler days have been some warmer ones. Tuesday through Thursday this past week were warm. Alas, that's been the frustration the past few weeks: beautiful weather midweek when I'm stuck working and can't enjoy the outdoors much, with cooler, cloudy weather on the weekends. Well, tomorrow, Sunday, is looking like it will be clear and a bit warmer.

The forecast shows that later this coming week, when I'm back at work of course, it'll be pleasantly warm, like highs reaching 80-81°. ...Actually, not only will I be working but I'll be traveling mid/late week, so I won't even be here for the warm weather... until I come home Friday night, just in time for it to cool down again over the weekend. 😂

Today's the first day of Spring! The change of season snuck up on me this time because nothing about the season has changed other than the note on the calendar. 📅 January and February here in California were unusually warm and dry. It was like we had our Spring weather then. Then March turned cooler-than-normal and rainy. It even rained in "sunny" Southern California. Spring is supposed to be about flowers blooming, but few around here are even budding because it's been cool and wet.

A glance at the 10-day weather forecast shows change ahead. Sunday through Tuesday it's supposed to be clear and in the 70s here! Too bad I'll be traveling those three days. 😔 And by the time I get back we'll be headed back to cooler temps and cloudy days for the rest of next week. 😓

Today, December 21st, is the winter solstice in the northern hemisphere. It's the shortest day, the longest night, and the start of winter by modern convention.

Winter means rain in California. Our climate pattern is such that we have beautiful, long, sunny summers. In turn, we get virtually all our rainfall for the year in winter. Of course, that definition of winter is not limited to astronomical dates like December 21. Typically our rainy season starts sometime in November and runs through March.

The way winter weather starts before the official start of winter means that, some years, I'm tired of winter by the time it starts. 😰 That was the case last year; fortunately it's not the case this year. I'm okay with winter right now. It hasn't dragged me down too much already. I think I'll be okay— as in not dispirited— by a couple months of drear. If nothing else, at least now that it's the winter solstice the days will start getting longer again. Soon it won't be dark at 5pm any more!

I've quipped before that I judge the start of Fall not by the astronomical phenomenon of the equinox on Sept 21 but by 3 observational milestones. One of them, the point at which it's cool enough to turn on the heat, came 11 days ago. Today the other two of the trifecta arrived: it was cool enough around home that I elected to wear trousers, and it rained.

Today wasn't strictly the first time recently that I've worn trousers. I mean, first, I've worn them several times when I've met customers face-to-face. But that's a choice for reasons of business culture, not weather. And twice in the past week I wore trousers because it was cool in the evening. While those were for reasons of weather they were only because it was cool after dark. Today I wore trousers during the day. The high temperature today was only forecast at 61°... though I think it actually got warmer than that, maybe mid-60s.

Today also brought the first rain I've seen around here in... oh, at least 6 months. It was a surprise shower that struck just after 12. I'd gone out to lunch, and the sky was beautiful blue with wispy white clouds. 30 minutes later the clouds were heavy and gray, and rain poured down for about 5 minutes. Not long after the sky was gentle blue again. But that brief rain complete the trio of signs. Fall is here... which means winter is coming.

Today's the first day of Fall. How are we celebrating it? Well, we went to the pool this morning.

It looked gloomy outside so we were thinking, "Warm up in the hot tub." It's been weeks since we used our own hot tub, anyway. A gloomy morning seemed like the right time to get back in the groove. But then the sky cleared as we got in the water.



It's turned out to be a beautiful day today. The sky is clear (after morning clouds burned off) and the air is a pleasantly warm 82° at the afternoon high. What a wonderful day for... doing nothing.

We feel like we deserve a rest today. Yesterday we were out all day with an adventure up in the Sierras. Yeah, I'm behind on blogging about that. So far all I've posted is our first stop of the day yesterday at Silver Lake. But hey, at least this morning I finally caught up on blogging about our Blue Ridge Mountains trip— the one that we came home from two weeks ago—with my blog this morning about visiting Mt. Mitchell.

Fall had already seemed to come to the mountains of North Carolina 2-3 weeks ago. Temperatures were cool there, like summer was already over. Out here in California September has been a mixed bag, temperature-wise. We've had some cooler days and some warmer ones. We planned our trip to the Sierras yesterday as kind of a "last hurrah" for summer. Right now the forecast shows it'll remain warm at least into next weekend.... That's not surprising for here, as generally September's a good month weather-wise. But next Friday Hawk is having some outpatient surgery on her foot, so it's basically the end of the season hiking-wise.