Sunday, October 14, 2018

Embrace The Beauty. Be Prepared For The Wrath.


In 1980, my parents bought the home I grew up in. I was 7 at the time. The Lakes Region. In New Hampshire. We were 5 minutes from the lake and 10 -15 minutes from the rest of the touristy areas like Weirs Beach and Meridith Bay. During the Summer months, there was no shortage of swimming, boating, water skiing, tubing, spending the afternoons at the beach, walking the boardwalks, lobster rolls and fried clams, ice cream cones, and all that the Lakes Region in New Hampshire had to offer.

Needless to say, I embraced the Summer months.

When I turned 30, I moved out of state for about 7 years. Two different states. Two very different cultures.

There was no Lakes Region.

There was no ocean less than an hour away.

Fresh seafood, clam or seafood "chowda" and lobster rolls were not available.

My favorite New England fare were all replaced by salt potatoes, hot rice, Hungarian food, Hushpuppies, fried chicken, stuffed cabbage rolls, and people looking at me as if I had 3 heads when I ordered a "grinder" or "frappe."

During that time, I didn't lose my adoration for the Summer months. I swam in one of the Great Lakes several times. A couple of friends had swimming pools.

But...

It wasn't the same.

That wasn't necessarily a bad thing.

Throughout my time of living out of state, I was forced to appreciate what the other seasons had to offer.

Or, fear it. 

And, throughout the years, I embraced each and every season despite the temperatures or crazy weather. That included tornados, baseball-sized hail, microbursts and macrobursts, lake effect snow, and 4-season weather all in one day.

In June of 2011 when I moved back home to my native New England state, I was in my glory. I lived across the street from the lake and amid the touristy Lakes Region season.

But, I was also prepared when Hurricane Irene hit the New England area in August of 2011.

I was also prepared when the Halloween nor'easter hit, also known as Snowtober, slammed us on October 29th of 2011.

That's the day I moved from New Hampshire to Connecticut.

About a year later, Hurricane Sandy hit us with a vengeance.

Between then and this year, we've had some rather unusual weather. Tornadoes. Severe storms. Last year, we got slammed with a bombogenesis storm that delivered 70+ mph winds on the overnight. We lost power for almost 2 days.

Then, in March of this year, we had some rather turbulent storms. One of those storms dumped over 2 feet of snow.

In May, not too far west of us in Connecticut got several tornados and micro/macrobursts.

With all of that being said...

I've learned to embrace each season.

With caution. 

I no longer favor one season over the rest.

The weather patterns are changing.

I'm reminded of a situation that happened a little over 20 years ago when Lisa and I were living together.

Our area had a tornado warning.

That was unheard of at the time.

We didn't have a basement.

That afternoon, we packed a bag and headed to my parent's house to spend the night.

Now, tornado warnings for our area have become a little "normal" during the warm weather months.

A lot of tornados have touched down in the New England area since then.

Too many.

As of now, when people ask what my favorite season is, I tell them, "I don't have one..."

Again, we embrace each season with caution.

Right now, with my trusty weather source, they're already predicting a bad weather pattern over a week from now.

I can only hope it won't be as severe as the one we had last year when we lost power for almost 2 days.

But, despite enjoying the Fall season full of apples and sugar pumpkins, I will keep updated on the latest. Prepare for the worst, hope for the best.

That's just how it is in our area.

Embrace the beauty.

Be prepared for the wrath.



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