Oct 31 2023 - Down the Rabbit Hole

 

Down the Rabbit Hole - that was Lewis Carroll in 1865 and it was Alice falling down a rabbit hole to find herself in Wonderland.  The idiom is often used to describe a person who is researching a topic on the internet or exploring new things on the web. Many websites are designed to keep users engaged and those that are most successful at keeping a user's attention are described as "rabbit holes".  That makes Carroll's Down the Rabbit Hole a "dead metaphor"  - it is a figure of speech which has lost the original imagery of its meaning - typically by extensive, repetitive, popular usage or by an obsolete technology or forgotten custom.  Take something like the expression deadline - its original usage referred to lines that do not move, or a boundary in a prison which prisoners must not cross (or else).  Much later the sense of a due date came along - it resurfaced in 1917 as a printing industry time limit.  It is curious and interesting to read about the long past dead metaphors.  But then, technology changes so fast that we can see a few from our own generation:   Roll up the window Glove compartment Sound like a stuck record Hang up the phone Carbon copy Stay tuned Video footage All good fun. It is the windy lake season coming up.  November turns into Snowvember as the Lake Effects take  "effect".  Is there snow in our forecast this week? Maybe even tonight after the children have finished trick or treating.

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Weekender Weather Alert

Wake Up on the Bright Side    I've been able to go out to the end of the driveway to pick up the newspaper in my bare feet until this past week.  Today looks like the end of that for me - I am not King Wenceslas (out on the feast of Stephen). The part that is interesting is our Great Lakes effects - northeast winds off Lake Ontario will pick up extra moisture resulting in higher snowfall totals.  The Weather Network brings science alive:  "The lake is like a hot tub." The lakes should be covered in ice rather than the current situation.  Jordan Harbour was mostly icebound yesterday - a small patch of ice shovelled clear and two people were skating.  There was a stream still travelling through from Lake Ontario. At Grimsby Beach, the ducks were standing on ice chunks rather than sitting in water.   "The best snowstorm at the beginning isn't the one that buries you, it's one that kind of reminds you we know where we live, we know what season we're in," Dave Phillips, senior climatologist with Environment Canada was quoted as saying. The 10 worst US storms in the 100 years of winter weather history included one from the Niagara region - the blizzard in Buffalo 2014 where Snowvember became an expression. That storm had up to 88 inches of snow. The frequently asked questions on lake effect snow include: how far does lake effect snow travel? which city gets the most lake effect snow? how far inland does lake effect snow go? why are lake effect snowflakes different? This is the video of the oncoming snow in 2014 in Buffalo HERE.   The picture of Buffalo being engulfed in the storm is clipped from that video.  The famous snow load in Keweenaw County Michigan during 1978-79 is documented below it - 25 feet.     There is so much weather news this weekend.  There is a massive disk of spinning ice in Westbrook, Maine.  It is 300 feet wide.  It was showcased on PBS last night. Next is the supermoon eclipse this weekend which will be easily visible for us (weather permitting).  It will happen on Sunday. So here's our February 2018 snow to get a sense of what the garden transforms into.  That summer picture is inviting in comparison.

Lake Effects - Or is it Affects...

"The Lake Effects" - that's the phenomenon that gave Buffalo the terrible snow storm last year.  The one with the snow that came up to house roofs. In Niagara, the Lake Effects are/is credited with 'giving rise to remarkable flavour distinctions between grapes of leakier sub-appellations and those from further inland. " Here's the link that describes more about this: http://www.vqaontario.ca/Library/Appellations/NiagaraPeninsula_Maps.pdf We've been experiencing Lake Effects with the recent rain.  These pictures show the fog effects at Vineland Estates winery.  Fog can role in before or after a rain.  The third picture is Moyer Road - the road that leads to Vineland Estates.  Isn't this a beautiful country road!   Facebook Twitter Website