Stormy Weather

June 2

Take long walks in stormy weather or through deep snows in the fields and woods, if you would keep your spirits up. Deal with brute nature. Be cold and hungry and weary. ~ Henry David Thoreau

Now is the winter, and spring, of our discontent. We had a second tornado hit our area within 18 days of each other. The water is as high as most locals can ever recall (high being a relative term not dealing with hallucinogenics). The winds keep blowing and temperatures have kept outdoor acitivities to a minimum. Neverthess, we persist . . .

Come in, she said, I’ll give ya shelter from the storm. ~ Bob Dylan

[Guinie keeps an eye on the outdoors on May 30, seemingly aware of what was to come later in that day . . . ]

May 28

Even the weather page is in a state of moral decay. What’s wrong with red, white and blue, USA Today? This rainbow weather map is just another example of the homometeorlogical agenda. ~ Stephen Colbert

[This afternoon was so exceptional, weatherwise, we were stunned. Jeff James was performing at the winery and – it was sunny and comfortable!]

Too often man handles life as he does the bad weather. He whiles away the time as he waits for it to stop. ~ Alfred Polgar

Don’t knock the weather; nine-tenths of the people couldn’t start a conversation if it didn’t change once in a while. ~ Kin Hubbard

[Hail, hail, the gang’s all here . . . ]

Girls in Their Summer Clothes. ~ Bruce Springsteen

Restaurants with peppermills the size of fire extinguishers and big red menus with the entries spelled with f’s instead of s’s are always expensive. ~ Miss Piggy

Thunder is good, thunder is impressive, but it is lightning that does the work. ~ Mark Twain

Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass… Life is about learning to dance in the rain. ~ Vivian Greene.

The storm is an artist; the rainbow is its masterpiece. ~ Matshona Dhliwayo

Remember to play after every storm. ~ Mattie Stepanek

Birds sing after a storm. Why shouldn’t we? ~ Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy

[On the drive home from the winery, the properties along the NW shore of Lake Darling reflect the recovery efforts from the tornado of May 12th . . . ]

At quarter past eleven on that momentous night, the storm breathed its last gasp. ~ Stephen King

The fishermen know that the sea is dangerous and the storm terrible, but they have never found these dangers sufficient reason for remaining ashore. ~ Vincent Van Gogh

Two thirds of federal disaster aid is weather related,and though we cannot prevent bad weather, we are getting better at predicting it. ~ William M. Daley

May 29

Never trust the food in a restaurant on top of the tallest building in town that spends a lot of time folding napkins. ~ Andy Rooney

[We were back at the winery the following morning. Anthony and Jim Miltich were performing from 10:00 am to 1:00 pm in conjunction with 5k and 10k races sponsored by the winery . . . ]

[It was every bit as beautiful a morning as was the previous afternoon. We delighted in the thought of sitting there all day. The Miltiches were followed on stage by the Robb Justice Band from 1 – 4:00 pm. Age and a change in weather prohibited us from sitting there for all six hours (though we did last for four) . . . ]

[Ostensibly a singing duet, they usually double as a comedy team. Jim has been living in Iowa for a few years now. He says Iowa means “idiots out walking around” (but with love in their hearts) . . . ]

Faith is not a delicate flower which would wither away under the slightest stormy weather. ~ Mahatma Gandhi

Something about me has always liked the drama and inconvience of bad weather. The worse the better, really. ~ John Green

I’m in favor of liberalizing immigration because of the effect it would have on restaurants. I’d let just about everybody in except the English. ~ Calvin Trillin

[Karin and Ruthie wend their way back through the crowd with their bottles of Carlos Creek Marquette . . . ]

This will go good with the breakfast pizza we ordered. ~ Ruthie

[Anthony looks on in complete bemusement . . . ]

Money doesn’t talk, it swears. ~ Bob Dylan

[And then, the Robb Justice Band, with Robb on guitar, Abram Heyn on bass, and David Stanoch on drums . . . ]

The real problem with reality is the lack of background music. ~ Anon

It’s not that I am ignoring you, it’s just that this is a really good song. ~ Anon

[Robb grew up in Villard (something I didn’t know until this day). I told him that the Boys of ’65 recently had lunch at the Office Bar in Villard. He said he played a lot of pool there as a kid. And, as is common with Villarders (Villardites? Villardians?), he lived in Alaska for 12 years before he moved back to Minnesota . . . ]

My neighbours listen to some excellent music. Whether they like it or not. ~ Anon

If everybody was happy in relationship there wouldn’t be any good music. ~ Anon

I hate it when I’m singing a song and the artist gets the words wrong. ~ Anon

Sometimes we pee on each other before we go on stage. ~ Trent Reznor

I wish my life had background music so I could understand what the hell is going on. ~ Anon

Let me be clear about this: I don’t have a drug problem, I have a police problem. ~ Keith Richards

To get your playing more forceful, hit the drums harder. ~ Keith Moon

May 30

Bad weather always looks worse through a window. ~ Tom Lehrer

[We had to go to our tornado shelter again. Raced around the house trying to catch the kitties. We spent about 45 minutes here, listening to Tommy Lee on KXRA describe what was going on outside. This is where we heard the tornado had hit Forada, about 12 miles south of Alex . . . ]

[The kitties got to explore a new hideaway . . . ]

Bad weather makes for good photography. ~ Ansel Adams

We have very beautiful bad weather here at present – rain, wind, thunder – but with splendid effects; that’s why I like it. ~ Vincent Van Gogh

I like storms. I would say I actively like stormy weather. I would not be afraid of them. I think that if I had not pursued journalism, I think storm-chasing would’ve been a really fun career. ~ Chuck Klosterman

May 31

I can hear your whisper and distant mutter. I can smell your damp on the breeze and in the sky I see the halo of your violence. Storm I know you are coming. ~ Robert Fanney

[Tuesday Night Club was actually performing on Tuesday night. At the Garden Bar, where I hummed along while noshing on a Greek bowl with ahi tuna . . . ]

[My tablemates were equally sated by whatever it was they ordered . . . ]

[How can one ever exist without one, particularly in this area?]

[Terry, Jim, Bill, and Al once again beguiled us with their musical acumen . . . ]

[Al, singing here, drives all the way from the Twin Cities to perform on these nights . . . ]

[Terry, hidden far left, on guitar with Jim on the bass and Bill on the trumpet . . . ]

If I could be a bird, I’d be a Flying Purple People Eater because then people would sing about me and I could fly down and eat them because I hate that song. ~ Jack Handey 

You know the oxygen masks on airplanes? I don’t think there’s really any oxygen. I think they’re just to muffle the screams. ~ Rita Rudner 

Life is like a trumpet – if you don’t put anything into it, you don’t get anything out of it. ~ William Christopher Handy

The bass is just the crayon that I picked out of the box. I’d probably be writing similar stuff if I played guitar or trumpet. The pictures I want to draw I do with this crayon I chose, which is the bass. ~ Les Claypool

Some people ask the secret of our long marriage. We take time to go to a restaurant two times a week. A little candlelight, dinner, soft music and dancing. She goes Tuesdays, I go Fridays. ~ Henny Youngman

Anybody who doesn’t think that the best hamburger place in the world is in his home town is a sissy. ~ Calvin Trillin

June 1

I never eat in a restaurant that’s over a hundred feet off the ground and won’t stand still. ~ Calvin Trillin

[The usual Wednesday night fine dining at the golf club . . . ]

[Historical as occurring one month before I was born . . . ]

[Historical as occurring one generation before I was born . . . ]

[The Super brought home most of her shepherd’s pie stuffed green peppers, it was just too much. My split pea with ham soup was so good I got two take out orders as well. Our two meals that night produced four meals the next day as we had my soup for lunch and her stuffed peppers for dinner . . . ]

I like these cold, gray winter days. Days like these let you savor a bad mood. ~ Bill Watterson

There are times when a storm is just a storm. ~ Erin Hunter

Up Next: Road trip?