Why the weather is always a topic of conversation in New York

VALOIS, New York, USA - When Adm. Fox and I live in California, we barely ever mention the weather. Oh, maybe in late November or the first week in December, when we have the beginnings of sprinkles of rain, or a cold front (50 degrees, brrr!) blows in.

Ditto for Mexico, where the temperatures are, well, temperate for the months we hang out in Arroyo Seco and La Manzanilla.

And that's why we hang out there, among other reasons.

But here in upstate New York, the weather rules. I mean really rules.

Plans for a boat trip? A picnic? Anything outside? Better have alternate plans because the weather will not be what you expect.

Today the plan (Can you hear God laughing?) was to do a few typical Sunday morning things (big breakfast, get a Sunday newspaper...) and then take a boat ride on the Spirit of Louise pontoon craft.

The first half went off without a hitch, but the boat ride has been scuttled - for the moment - as a cold front has been marching down the lake on and off for several hours. If the sun breaks through the cloud cover, it will be glorious.

For now, glorious is not an appropriate descriptor for what it looks like outside our window.

The nice thing about this anything-can-happen weather cycle is that in casual conversation there is never a lack of common ground. Everyone is affected by the weather. And some people really like to complain about it. (Hmm, I would seem to fall into that category today.)

But as the saying goes around here: You don't like the weather? Wait 15 minutes.

And as I write this, it looks like the clouds are parting across the lake and that the sun is about to burst through the layers of gray that have plagued us all day.

I swear I can hear someone singing hallelujah.

Could it be an attack of cabin fever - after just two days of rain?

VALOIS, New York, USA - The temperature is a reasonable 68 degrees, humidity about 97 percent (less reasonable) but after two days of on-and-off monsoon-style rainshowers, the Admiral and I are beginning to look at each other like two Alaska gold miners, locked in a creekside cabin for months in the middle of winter.

In other words, a little cabin fever is setting in, despite several social events. (Yes, we are spoiled from Mexico's all-sun, all-the-time weather.)

Last night we went out for dinner with Hector amigos and had a great time, ignoring the gray overcast.

And we did get out and socialize for an hour or so early today at the Hector Volunteer Fire Department's pancake breakfast. That's the place to go to catch up with neighbors. The bad news is the breakfasts are only one Sunday a month. The good news is the breakfasts are only one Sunday a month.

Why is that good news?

Well, I ingest enough bacon grease, cooking oil from the potatoes and sugar from the real NY maple syrup to break every health edict I am reading about in a book called Younger Every Year.

I'll restart the health regime tomorrow.

We did lower the cabin fever temporarily an hour ago with a long walk around the neighborhood, in between rain showers. Many neighbors were out, peering at the sky and wondering what happened to the 80+ degrees and sun we had all last week.

But no waterfront activities are on tap, unless the sun comes out and dries the path to the lake. It is slippery as snot (sorry) and traversing it is not recommended right after a rainstorm. Can't kayak - or sail - with a sprained ankle or busted butt.

Here's a short video of today's breakout walk from the house and into the fog...

Whopper of a storm hits Arroyo Seco, no power, but lots of water

ARROYO SECO, Jalisco, Mexico - A thunderstorm that lasted for hours walloped little Arroyo Seco (and the rest of the Costalegre) bringing six inches of rain to some towns, and maybe half that much here. Anything we would use as a rain gauge got blown over and dumped in the high winds that hit in the middle of the night.

Most impressive was the lightning display.

In all the storms I've seen in New York, California and the midwestern U.S., nothing comes close.

We are checking today to see if our sailing amigos in Tenacatita Bay are all right.

The Admiral several times in the night said, " I am soooooo glad we are not out at anchor."

Amen.

Here's a video of the storm - and the aftermath.

Rains come to Arroyo Seco - no outside work today

ARROYO SECO, Jalisco, Mexico - The humidity was about 100 percent Monday when I mowed the grass with our new-to-the-Pink-Flamingo lawnmower. But that kind of humidity usually spells rain and so I was determined to cut the sacate.

And at about 2 a.m. I was rewarded for my labors with, at first, a nice gentle shower, followed by about seven hours of pretty steady rain. The property drained pretty well, though we did end up with several lagunas here and there.

As I write this, just past beer o'clock, it has stopped and the puddles are gradually disappearing into the ground. But more rain is forecast and I am scrambling to find all the tarps I just neatly folded, in case either of our trailers decides to take on water.

And the best news? The work I had planned for today is effectively canceled. That means I finally get to watch the movie Avatar (for a second time...).


Greener grass on the way

So what do you do on a rainy day in Mexico? Same as in the U.S.

Everyone sits around and talks about the rain - and the weather in general. Our neighbor Chon came over and like a couple of Iowa farmers, we thoroughly discussed the weird weather patterns that have been in evidence since we arrived in December. We discussed things thoroughly at least as much as my Spanish - and his English - would allow.

But mud puddles aside, one side benefit is not having to wash the cars! They have been rinsed thoroughly, including the new carrito just purchased by Chief Educational Officer Laura Warner/

And if I am hearing correctly, another heavy duty rinsing might be on the way.


Laura's new carrito

Typical muggy morning - and then the rain hit! Que es esto?

ARROYO SECO, Jalisco, Mexico - While Admiral Fox was off playing some music with amigos today at Boca de Iguanas, Chief Education Officer Laura Warner and I made a foray to the nearby town of Emiliano Zapata, a few miles away, to buy paint, bricks and, of course, a delicious rotisserie chicken for dinner.

Oh! And we needed to buy more Off insect spray, something in short supply in La Manzanilla.

No problem in Zapata. And they had it in the spray cans. Very efficient.



But on the return trip we noticed that some of the trucks heading north were using their windshield wipers.

How odd, we thought? It couldn't be!

But it was.

We started getting the rain around 1 p.m. that had apparently begun earlier in La Manz. Not heavy rain, not the kind of rain that even makes much in the way of mud. But rain, anyway.

And with it, cooler temps and now less humidity than this morning's heavy air that felt like New York City in August.

Bring on the rain, por favor.

The upstate New York experience: green, green, green

VALOIS, New York, USA - The Admiral and I experienced our first real rain last night, the first since we left California last December for Mexico.

Not a drop fell in our part of coastal Mexico while we were there and it was so extraordinary last night that I stood outside at 5 a.m. for a few minutes, letting the rain pelt me. Yes, I now am sneezing, slightly, from the cold and wet, but it was worth it.

I have never been to our Seneca Lake house this early in the spring season. The reward for coming in now is that everything is in bloom, flowers, trees and weeds, too. (Please pass the kleenex, would you?) But because it is early, I have been able to get a closer look at various projects (unobstructed by brush) and figured out what I hope is some easier ways to accomplish things. More on rebuilding our cliffside path to the lake in another blog.


Plants blooming all around the house

The nicest experience in coming back this year was how good things are. The house had been cleaned before we arrived (and was really clean) the yard had been raked and mowed (and looked like a golf course), even the outside of the house looked a little cleaner. My work cleaning and organizing the tools paid off the first time I went looking for my various rakes and shovels and other implements and they were hanging up - right where I left them.

Un milagro, as we say in Mexico.

One thing that really stood out was how good the guest cabin looked after being painted by our friend Brad last summer. The cabin cleanup has been my worst nightmare every summer, as it would be gross on the outside and equally problematic on the inside.

This season, I just go up and sit on the little patio and listen to birds.


Seneca Lake cabin new paint job survived the winter

Next on the list is finding a summer car for the house - the white Buick has been sold and the rental car is waaay too expensive to keep for more than a week or so.

But why do all the reasonably priced cars and trucks for sales have to be Ford motor products?

!Madre mia! (another Mexican expression.)