Choosing to wear a summer frock yesterday seemed to work some kind of charm on the weather for the day turned put to be quite nice on the whole. Mind you, it had already begun quite brightly so it already stood a good chance of being more than acceptable, despite the gloomy forecast. The rain set in though at the point when we had thought we might go for an after-dinner stroll. And that was that!
This morning I woke to the sound of yet more rain on the skylights. You couldn’t say it was hammering down … more like pattering … the kind of thin, slow, persistent rain that soaks you, not because it’s heavy but because it goes on and on. I decided to put on my waterproof and go for a run anyway, on the grounds that if I waited for it to clear up I might not get out all day. And it was fine. The river is bouncing along, not quite full to overflowing but pretty full. The footpaths are full of puddles. Despite the waterproof I did get wet but, hey, I don’t melt … or at least I’ve not done so yet. If ever I discover that being rained on makes you melt I’ll patent it as a slimming system.
The weather could be worse, of course. How about this report:
“Temperatures were not the only weather-related record to be broken over the past couple of weeks. The European hail record has been breached too. Twice.
On 19 July 2023, there were several very large hailstones, more than 10cm in diameter measured along their longest axis, recorded across parts of Italy and Croatia. One of these stones, measuring 16cm in diameter, was recorded in Carmignano di Brenta, Italy, and broke the previous largest hail record in Europe, which was previously held by a 15cm stone found in Romania in 2016.
However, just five days later, a new record was set. At about 9pm UTC on 24 August 2023, a 19cm hailstone was found in the town of Azzano Decimo, also in Italy. This is very close to the all-time largest hail recorded of 20.3cm, found on 23 July 2010 in South Dakota, the US. Hailstones of this size are usually formed in supercells, which have strong rotating updrafts that are able to support their mass, keeping them suspended long enough so the hailstones can grow to these very large sizes.”
There you go. The weather could indeed be worse but then, it could also be better!
They’re starting to announce imminent supermoons again. We should have a full moon this week it seems. I was amused to find that the latest announcement ended with this statement:
“Supermoons are typically about 14% larger in appearance than ordinary full moons and up to 30% brighter. Most people, however, will be hard-pressed to truly notice a difference.”
That’s my underlining as we rarely manage to see celestial events around here - we’re just poorly located and besides it’s often too cloudy!
Having read about virgin births among laboratory fruit flies, my interest was sparked by this headline: “The pet I’ll never forget: Thumper was a caged rabbit. So how did she get pregnant?”
No miraculous intervention here; it turns out that rabbits can do what they need to do in order to breed like … well … rabbits even through chicken wire. And wild male rabbits had had their wicked way with poor, innocent, enclosed behind chicken wire Thumper. Here’s the full story for anyone interested. I was reminded once again of a rabbit from my childhood. I am told it is quite difficult to be sure of the gender of young rabbits and one of the neighbours was convinced hers was a buck and so let him wander freely from garden to garden. “He” always returned to his own garden and hutch. The one morning Mrs Eastwood, the owner of the freedom-loving rabbit, called across the gardens to my mother, “Mrs Pye! My buck rabbit just had six babies!” Take nothing for granted!
Life goes on. Stay safe and well, everyone!
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