This is a picture of me playing solitare rather than playing online because a tree fell on the powerlines tonight and we had no electricity for a few hours. Yet another violent storm roaring out of the south this fall. It is 68 degrees F outside and the wind is howling from the south and thunderstorms are coming and what on earth is going on?
We grilled hamburgers at night, outside, wearing tee shirts and sandals. The wind smells of late spring warmth, the geese and ducks aren’t bothering with migrating south because the wind is blowing them north, not south. The naked trees are swaying in the strong winds and shedding branches and one tree gave up and fell on our lines, dousing all electricity flowing to Berlin, NY.
We lived for many years with no electricity so we activated the kerosene lamps and the only disruption is a lack of access to our internet. I read in the news today, this same storm has already spawned tornadoes and these have flattened nursery schools in the deep south and killed people in homes and trailers in the Carolinas and it is moving north to menace my own farm.
By ESTES THOMPSON, Associated Press Writer 15 minutes ago
RIEGELWOOD, N.C. - A tornado flipped cars, shredded trees and ripped mobile homes to pieces in this little riverside community early Thursday, killing at least eight people, authorities said.The disaster brought the two-day death toll from a devastating line of thunderstorms that swept across the South to 12.
Kip Godwin, chairman of the Columbus County Commission in North Carolina, said authorities had concluded their search of the area where the eight people died — a cluster of mobile homes and an adjacent neighborhood of brick homes — and had accounted for everyone.
Twelve people were hospitalized, including four children in critical condition, hospital officials said.
This is fall?
Feels like spring, to me! In the news today, Fairbanks, Alaska, is as warm as we are and it is most disconcerting, when one gets accustomed to seasons, having them all jumbled up feels menacing. Alaska and the Northeast are surprised by global warming but in all, it menaces us less than the equatorial regions that are facing flood/drought cycles of a very punishing nature. And tornados.
The Pacific ocean off of the shore of Western Mexico, hurricanes are still forming and the lastest one is becoming a catagory 4 and will probably shoot north like all the others this year and whack at my berg here in Berlin. I have been a bit sporatic about posting here lately because of frantic work, preparing for an eventful winter.
We have a generator left over from the wild and wooly tent days but it really isn’t worth activating unless the power if off more than 12 hours. I sort of feel like I am in Baghadad where power is sporatic and we have no power or influence and the people have no electricity.
Generators are a pain to use. I blew one out when it ran out of oil. Our present model has a low oil shut-off, do remember to never buy a generator that doesn’t have this nifty device. One wealthy neighbor has an automatic turn-on generator of great capacity because of his business. These things cost over $5000 with intallation and insulation, etc.
I would rather have what we had for years in the tent: solar energy and a battery bank. Our battery bank was a bunch of ordinary marine batteries in a continuous gang set-up. We had just one solar panel because of our poverty at the time and it ran several lights, a mini-tv and a small water pump from the 200 gallon tank under the sink.
We considered this set-up to be quite luxurious because prior to this, we had no electricity at all except a few flashlights!
Storms like this one reminds us of the precariousness of civilization. I really enjoy electrical power since I lived without for so long.
Robert Roy Britt
Senior Science Writer
SPACE.com Tue Nov 14, 3:15 PM ETThe annual Leonid meteor shower could produce a strong outburst this weekend for residents of the North America and Western Europe.
A brief surge of activity is expected begin around 11:45 p.m. ET Saturday, Nov. 18. In Europe, that corresponds to early Sunday morning, Nov. 19 at 4:45 GMT. The outburst could last up to two hours.
At the peak, people in these favorable locations could see up to 150 shooting stars per hour, or more than two per minute.
Thanks to free trade, all the greenhouses in Berlin are dark these years which means we can see these celestial showers. City lights pretty much white-out the night sky but here, it is a velvetly blackness and stars stand out with great clarity. Normally, I am very aware of the phase of the moon but right now, I so seldom see the sky, I have no idea except I know it isn't full moon which is better for meteorite watching.
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