New Year - Day 6 - Wind & Other Stuff

Brisk Wind - Wispy Clouds  January 6, 2011

 

 

Wind

The sixth day of the new year broke chilly, bright and clear, with strong westerly winds whipping dry leaves into a frenzy.  The block on which I live has many large oak trees as well as several sycamores and smaller deciduous trees which have shed all but a few tightly clinging leaves.   If I listened closely, although I was inside the house, I could hear the leaves rustling and murmuring as they tumbled across streets and yards, drifting into leaf-banks, much like snow before a driving wind.  There will be a lot of leaf-raking going on when the wind dies down. Perhaps my neighbors to the east will have already received many of the leaves from my yard, but I expect that I'll have the leaves from my neighbors to the west.

I'm trying to expand my blogging abilities and have, below, inserted my first video -- my favorite song about the wind.   I hope it works.  If you can't, or choose not to, open this video file, you may go here to listen.

The singer is Harve Presnell.  Although I have heard  it sung by Vaughn Monroe, Frankie Lane and others, this is my favorite version.

The western high desert, about which I have been posting for a few days, can spawn some doozy wind storms.  Not tornados like we have here in Arkansas, but wind that blows from the west for days and days, nearly always carrying with it fine sand that creeps into every nook and cranny of our house and car given even the tiniest opening. If I had to be outside during one of these windstorms, it was necessary to take precautions, covering my nose and mouth and squinting my eyes so that my eyelashes could protect my eyes. [Have you ever noticed how long a camel's eyelashes are? Or, wondered why wandering Bedouins wrap the lower parts of their faces with cloth?]   I well remember sweeping up dustpans full of sand after "a blow" when we lived in Albuquerque.   Unless we were extremely diligent, the grit would also find its way into our food. Mashed potatoes ala sandstorm; yuck!  People are not supposed to eat grit; chickens and birds eat grit!  

Other Stuff
After having the same dentist for over 30 years, the sweet man up and retired last July 31. He was thoughtful enough to transfer my records to another local dentist, but I chose to go elsewhere when I had a dental emergency the second week in August.  I was so pleased with the care I received from the new dentist that I made an appointment on the spot for my regular semi-annul checkup, which occurred today.  I'm still pleased, and have already scheduled my next appointment in July.  Although my former dentist's office was conveniently within walking distance (if I cared to walk), my new provider's office is about eight miles away. However, it's an easy drive, away from the Little Rock traffic, so I really don't mind. 

Today is The Epiphany when, according to legend, the Three Wise Men brought gifts to the baby Jesus.  My elder daughter and Gardening Daughter decided that we would not give "Christmas" gifts, but would wait until The Epiphany for our gift exchange.  I had no idea how many folks around the world do the same.  Even the redoubtable Suldog and HIS WIFE wait until January 6 to exchange their gifts to each other.  His post about "Little Christmas" is here. I invite you to visit.

Part of my afternoon I spent watching a movie on TV, a rare occurrence for me.  However, I am extremely fond of the Arnold Schwarzenegger/Jamie Lee Curtis movie True Lies, and it was on the AMC channel this afternoon.  There is no reasonable explanation of why I like shoot-'em-up action films and things that go "BANG,"  but I do, and that movie has more than its share. It's also probably highly offensive to those of a sensitive/sensible nature.  I'm also fond of movies with high-speed car chases, and lots of wrecks; Bullitt, the old movie with Steve McQueen, is one of my favorites.  Or, Smokey and the Bandit.   Now, all you real and/or amateur psychologists out there, don't start trying to figure me out -- that's just the way I am, slightly warped.

I had about all the excitement I could stand for the sixth day of the New Year.  Tomorrow is also a day. (*)

(*) That's actually a quote from one of my favorite fictional characters -- Lt. Luis Mendoza, Los Angeles Police Department, created by author Dell Shannon (a.k.a. Elizabeth Linington) who, from 1960 to 1986  wrote thirty seven (37) police procedural novels featuring Lt. Mendoza.  If you're so inclined to read that sort of thing, I recommend that series to you.