Sigh....

It's started early this year.....

AIR QUALITY ALERT
RELAYED BY NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH NC
811 AM EDT TUE JUN 7 2011
..AIR QUALITY ALERT IN EFFECT UNTIL 9 PM EDT THIS EVENING...

THE NORTH CAROLINA DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL AND NATURAL RESOURCES
IN RALEIGH NC HAS ISSUED A CODE ORANGE AIR QUALITY ACTION DAY FOR
GROUND LEVEL OZONE...IN EFFECT UNTIL 9 PM EDT THIS EVENING.

Usually we don't start getting code orange air days until mid-July or August, and we've had them nearly every day since May 31st.....No, actually, maybe we did have one prior year, of our four years here, that started up in June......but still, it's sad to be cooped up. I mean, we're far enough away from Raleigh that you'd think we'd be okay, but when the air here takes on that orange-ish, hazy look to it (yes, aroun), I'd rather just trust that the warning extends our way.

I'm grateful we got out and enjoyed the spring while it lasted!!!

Tornados, Droughts, Floods, and . . . Allergies?

http://www.weather.com/outlook/weather-news/news/articles/tornado-outbreak-april2011-stats_2011-05-04

http://www.weather.com/outlook/weather-news/news/articles/drought-exceptional-south_2011-05-12

http://beta.weather.com/outlook/weather-news/news/articles/severe-flood-tracker_2011-04-29

http://www.weather.com/outlook/weather-news/news/articles/allergies-are-worse_2011-05-13

I wonder what the weather holds for the rest of the year!

So, WHEN can I move back to Idaho???

Someday I'll have to write a post about why I love North Carolina, just to make up for this, but I need to embrace a weak moment. (Okay, so, really I want to embrace it.) Maybe I'll do both since I actually do have pros on NC in mind and I may never have another spare moment for this again. ;)

Why I miss Idaho

- I can walk out my front door and not get bitten by mosquitos

- the sun shines the majority of the year (this one is vs. Ann Arbor, MI)

- it snows when I want it to

- my husband doesn't have to cut thru clay in order for me to have a garden

- I don't have to worry about being eaten alive if I actually want garden

- I can actually go outside--period.

- it snows in the winter (in normal years)

Why I love NC

- my tomato plants really did grow six feet tall like the garden center guy said they would!

- it's beautiful--everything grows a plenty! (if only there weren't mosquitos, ticks, 90-100 degrees plus humidity, etc.)

- I don't have to scrape ice off my car (although I guess I do have to wipe "dew" off my car, not as bad, but rarely expected)

- it snowed lots last winter!

p.s. shhh! don't tell S about this post!

p.p.s. S was looking at real estate in ID a month ago during his weak moment. ;)

Lightning Storm

We had an awe-inspiring lightening storm Friday night. Lightening constantly flickered thru the sky, accompanied by a gentle, far-away rumbling. I pulled out the camera to capture some of it. Not many of the flashes were detected by the camera, and you can't even hear the thunder, rather just the rain.

Counting lightning

An hour or so after this, I was reading in bed when there was a bright flash of light. Our phone half-rang, and then BOOM--the kind of boom that shakes your house. S and I wondered what had been hit. The next day we saw one of our neighbor's trees (two houses down) had been severely damaged by the storm, and although it wasn't obvious at first, we later learned it likely was from that lightening strike. We're grateful it was a smaller tree, compared to the trees easily twice its height that surround all the homes in this area, and that the main branches were blown off toward the street, rather than toward the house. A damaged fence is always better than a damaged home. I'd understood lightning hits the tallest thing in an area--but apparently not always!