Welcome spring, finally...

Spring began on March 20, and when that date was approaching, I was waiting on it with breathless anticipation. I do not like winter, and when it goes away, it is like being released from an odd form of prison. I feel that way for a number of reasons, but I will not be sharing any of them in this column.

When spring hits, it literally is a breath of fresh air most years. Temperatures quickly moderate and we see lots of color sprouting around us. Charcoal is replaced by blossoms.

With this in mind, I have been quite disappointed with how this spring has begun. It did not begin with a bang last month because it was cold and we even had a little bit of snow during the first few days. High temperatures in the thirties were not what I was fantasizing about while I was lingering in my winter cell.

However, this is not unusual. It is not realistic to expect spring to begin with 80-degree temperatures and trips to the lake. In fact, I can remember some March weather that ranks right up there with the most severe winter weather we have experienced in this area.

For example, the Superstorm of 1993 dumped more than 10 inches of snow here and that took place in the middle of March. Technically, it was still winter, but it was an example of how weather can march to the beat of its own drum.

Now that we have segued into April, spring seems to be climbing out of its funk, but I am not entirely satisfied. The average high temperature for this point of the season is in the mid to upper 60s, and we seem to be having problems hitting that with consistency.

I am looking for those glorious days where it is still cool enough to wear a sweatshirt but warm enough to wear shorts. When looking around me, I see some people have already reached that point. I am happy for them, but I still have to wear a light jacket when walking out to the mailbox. Maybe my delicate pink skin is getting too sensitive as I age.

Spring brings simple joys that often cannot be experienced in winter. For example, I enjoy mowing my lawn. While some may scoff at that being a simple pleasure, I like getting out there and pushing that little mower around.

Of course, I do not have a very big yard, so maybe that is part of why I enjoy it. It is not too big to become a nuisance.

However, the bigger point is the season allows us to get outside more and rid ourselves of the claustrophobia that being in the house can bring. ‘Claustrophobia’ is probably too dramatic of a word to use, but I do not like being cooped up. A couple of walks around the block is about the best tonic there is if a person has had a bad day. And it is tougher to do that in the dead of winter.

Sure, there are plenty of places to exercise indoors, but it is not the same as being engaged with nature. Spending a couple of hours just walking around a place like Old Stone Fort is infinitely healthier than mindless time on a treadmill.

Not that time on a treadmill is entirely bad. After all, some exercise is better than no exercise, and if a treadmill is all a person has, then he should go for it.

So, it is only a matter of days before spring completely comes out of its shell. Let us hope it is sooner rather than later.

Forget about a warming trend in Barrow this weekend

As frequent readers of this blog know, I like checking out the weather in Barrow, Alaska, from time to time. Barrow is the northernmost permanent settlement in the United States.  It suffers unbearable cold and considerable darkness depending on the time of year.

Here in Tennessee, we will enjoy something of a warming trend this weekend.  The weather people say it will be 70 on Saturday and in the upper 60s on Sunday.  No such luck for Barrow.  It will be cloudy this weekend with a high of 18 on Saturday and a high of 15 on Sunday.

So, here is a cyber tip of the cap to the folks there.  It must be tough, but I'm sure they must love it there to put up with it.

Too hot, too early.....Barrow?

I enjoyed the mild winter, but it has gotten too hot for early April. The predicted high for Monday is 88 degrees, and it is expected to be 86 on Tuesday. For some perspective, the average high this time of year is 65 degrees. Usually, when it gets too hot, I check out the temperatures in Barrow, Alaska, just to make me feel cooler. However, the high there tomorrow is expected to be 13 degrees below zero. That is just too dang cold. It is supposed to be a balmy minus three there on Thursday. Me no like.

Blissfully mild winter (so far)

I no longer try to hide my contempt for winter. It is my least favorite season, and its primary purpose to me is that it is a bridge between my two favorite times of year (autumn and spring).

Yes, winter can be a bleak time. It is a time of little sunshine, cold winds, and prolonged periods of time indoors. I know going through times like these help us appreciate better parts of the year, but I think I have learned enough lessons and would like the warmer weather to arrive.

Unfortunately, we are only a little over one month through the season. Though I could look at this in a pessimistic way, I will not because we have been blessed with a relatively mild winter so far. Of course, this could all quickly change, but like I just wrote, I want to look at this positively.

Perhaps we are due an easy winter. The last two have been cold, and last year, it seemed like snow was in the forecast every few days. As a child, this would have been a wonderful occurrence, but as adults know, we can not just sit at home every time the weather is bad.

The best aspect of this is that we are only a few weeks away from exiting the portion of winter that typically has the worst weather. The coldest and snowiest part of the season is from early January until mid-February. So, we are roughly three weeks away from leaving our best opportunities for awful conditions.

But does this mean we are totally out of the woods? Of course not. In fact, the worst snow storm I can remember did not happen until mid-March. Known as the Superstorm of 1993, it was a weather system that paralyzed most of the eastern part of the country.

In Manchester, we got around 10 inches of snow. It was a remarkable storm. Though it was difficult to do, I can remember driving around town.

The hotels were packed with college students who were stranded here during spring break. The interstate was closed for a period of time so they had no place to go.

In an odd way, maybe they were foreshadowing the arrival of Bonnaroo years later. If young people could have fun here during a snow storm, I can understand why a music festival would succeed here on such a grand scale.

Still, I am anticipating the arrival of mid-February and the gradual turn of the season toward spring. The turn is a gradual one, and if a person is not looking for it, he will miss it.

Even now, daylight is lasting a little longer. By mid-February, this fact will be more noticeable. We will begin to notice that we are not driving to and from work in the dark anymore.

Also, cold snaps will be less frequent. If winter continues on the mild trek it is on now, maybe we will not notice this much either. Still, it is something that is noticeable if we will only pause to do so.

However, I am only speculating at what will happen. Just because things have happened in the past does not mean they will happen again this year. Predicting weather is often like a sophisticated form of gambling where the experts guess at what is most likely to happen. Meteorologists often do a good job of it, which is why they get to make a living out of telling us what the weather might do.

As for me, I will be patient. I will pray for an early spring and do so earnestly.

Red hot days await

The forecasted high temperature for Middle Tennessee tomorrow is 97 degrees with the heat index expected to be more than 105 degrees. The high temperature in Barrow, AK, is expected to be 41 degrees. As much as I love Tennessee, I know where I would rather be on Tuesday.

Weather gone wild

The events of the last few months should make us all feel more thankful than ever to have a roof over our heads.

Though I could go in a lot of directions with that comment, I am primarily thinking about the weather. The world has experienced a series of massive natural disasters that have killed thousands and impacted many more lives.

The Japanese tsunami seems like a distant memory in some respects though it only happened a few months ago. An entire culture changed for the foreseeable future because of a strong earthquake and the resulting tidal wave.

Of course, in America, the weather has caused problem after problem in recent weeks. The massive tornado that destroyed much of Tuscaloosa, Ala, turned a quaint college city into a big mess. Any disaster that can cause fans of Auburn and Alabama's football teams to join together has to be recognized as a massive one.

Additionally, because of the rainy spring season, the Mississippi River brought flooding from the Midwest down to Louisiana. I have never gone through a serious natural disaster, but I have always thought flooding must be one of the most frustrating because people have to stand there and watch their lives get slowly swept away.

I do not mean to minimize other natural disasters. They all can be awful. For example, the recent tornado in Joplin, Mo., was an example of how these storms take no prisoners.

Among the hardest hit places in that city was a hospital. Hospitals are essential during these events, and when one gets wiped out, it makes a bad situation even worse.

Not only are the existing patients traumatized by the storm, but the hospital can not assist newly injured people. This type of one-two punch can devastate any community whether it is a small town or large city.

All these events have happened, and we have only just started hurricane season. The season lasts from June 1 until November 30. If events continue to unfold as they have, it should not surprise us if we see a lot of strong storms in the Gulf of Mexico this year.

The bottom line is the events described above demonstrate just how fragile life is. Ways of life can be changed in only a few minutes if we find ourselves in the path of a storm.

We all go about our day-to-day lives and rarely consider how easily it can all be gone. This is not meant as a criticism. We grow accustomed to the pace of our lives and enjoy our comfort zones. I enjoy my comforts zones and do not like to get kicked out of mine.

However, sooner or later, it happens to all of us. Weather disasters are just one way this occurs. And since the weather is not going away, we will always remain vulnerable to what our friends in Japan, Alabama, and Missouri have gone through.

Despite this possibility, weather has always fascinated me and will continue to do so. The power of weather is especially interesting. If The Weather Channel is broadcasting a show about tornadoes then there is a good chance I will watch it. If meteorologist Jim Cantore is strapped to a tree in the middle of a hurricane, I will be sitting about a foot-and-a-half from my television screen.

Weather is one example of life's double-edged sword. It can be beautiful and deadly. It can be breathtaking and tragic. It can be tranquil and terrifying.

There are not a lot of aspects of life that we can say that about. Then again, I am glad there are not many things that fall in that category. Life is challenging enough as it is.

Oh, sweet Barrow, please bless me with cool thoughts

The heat wave that plagued us for most of July and early August has eased up a bit. However, summer is still with us for a while, and it remains much too warm for my liking.

Because of this, it is time to take one of our infrequent looks at the weather in Barrow, Alaska. Barrow is the northernmost permanent settlement in the United States. Even though we have been scorched this season, the weather there has been more likeable.

For the next three days, the forecast there is: Tuesday -- high temperature of 46 and a low of 40 with partly cloudy skies. Wednesday -- high of 46 and a low of 41 with a 40 percent chance of showers. Thursday -- high of 46 and a low of 43 with a 30 percent chance of showers.

That makes me feel better. Soon, the weather will take a turn for the better here.

And folks in Barrow will wish they lived in Tennessee.

The heat and Carlos Zambrano goin' loco

There is something about the summer that makes people impatient. A common cliché used this time of year is that 'people are reaching their boiling point' when describing conflict.

It makes sense, I guess. Our outward environment definitely can impact us. If the temperature is hot and the humidity is high on the outside, then our internal thermostat can easily explode if we are not careful.

We see this in sports a lot. Carlos Zambrano, who is a pitcher for the Chicago Cubs, went off the deep end a couple of weeks ago after giving up four runs in one inning against the rival White Sox.

It was a sunny day, and when he returned to the dugout at the end of the inning, he verbally attacked just about everybody within hearing range. He did not feel some of his fielders hustled when tracking down hits he gave up, and he was not happy about it.

I wonder if he also pointed the finger at himself because he gave up a home run in that inning. It is kind of tough for a fielder to go up into the seats and catch one of those.

Much to Zambrano's chagrin I am sure, his meltdown was done in front of thousands of people and a television audience. Of course, it was repeatedly shown throughout the day on various sports broadcasts.

He came off looking silly because he has struggled all season. Reporters almost reported with glee that he continues to fall short of the expectations the Cubs had for him when they signed him to a $91 million contract a few years ago. The team's response to his tirade was to suspend him.

Still, it is difficult not to feel some compassion. Even if his tantrum was unfair to the people he attacked, we all know what it is like to blow our stack and lash out at people who do not deserve it. We are just fortunate that our mistakes have not occurred in public and been broadcast nationwide.

Of course, we now live in a YouTube world where even the most innocent of mistakes can make it to the Internet if somebody is videoing it. So, I guess the lesson we must all learn is to keep control of ourselves to avoid the possibility of becoming a punch line for people around the world.

As for the impact the heat can have on us, it is important that we remember that it will be gone in a few months. Temperatures will begin to cool soon even if it feels like that time is far away.

Then again, I am assuming that everybody reading this dislikes the heat as much as me. I know this is not true. For every person who hates the heat, there is somebody who feels like the summer is liberating.

To those people I say: Keep away from me.

A common coping technique I use to get through this season of misery is to surf the Internet and look for cities where the temperature is cool.

In the United States, a common town I check out is Barrow, Alaska. Barrow is the northernmost permanent settlement in our country. Even this time of year, we can visit Weather.com and see that their forecast is for temperatures in the 50s.

That sounds pretty good right now. I would never want to live there because of the brutal winters, but just knowing there are people in our country enjoying cool weather right now is good enough for me.

Relief is on the way. Relief that will help us all rest a little easier.

It's summer, and it's hot

Summer has begun, and it has started with a torching bang. Today, highs of 98 degrees were common across Middle Tennessee. The heat index reached nearly 103 degrees in some places. It is expected to be hot throughout the week.

Not much can be done in a situation like this. However, to remind us of colder times, here are some photos of snow and ice taken last winter.

Maybe this can help. Maybe.