I hate the weather

In the early 1990's, I worked on farms. I love farming. It's too bad that industry has destroyed it. Farming means, enduring the weather, and trying to harvest something. It's a very hard living, but it's also very rewarding. In the height of the summer, you must be able to handle the worst of the sun and heat as you bale hay. The hay needs to be dry. If that isn't hot enough you, throw heavy bales onto a wagon, the you should try it up in the haymow. That's the barn's attic where you store the hay. Of course, since it's at the top, all the heat is trap in this confined area. It's dark, and the air is filled with dust, pollen and anything else you track in. I'll save you the worst of what you actually are breathing in. It's a barn remember... If you can survive stacking hay in the haymow, you have definitely survived an ordeal.

So, over those years, I experience the heat. And, I noticed a change in the weather. Of course, back then, I was in my mid-twenties, and what the hell did I know about long term weather patterns. But, I did have other farms to talk about the weather. It's what we do in Canada. And especially, Canadian Farmers. During a grape harvest, I was tractor jockeying with an old gentleman named Jasper. He was in his late seventies back in the 1990's, so, he had farmed many seasons in the Twentieth Century. That particular fall, we were talking about how freaking hot that summer had been, and how the heat was still there while we harvesting in October. It may have been late September. Depends on the variety. Whichever, we both were agree that things were changing. He then went on to give me a complete history of weather in our area, over decades. To simplify, he said, the heat was coming earlier and staying later. He notice a shift about two weeks on either end. So, back in the 1990's that was a lot. He convinced me.

I'm sure not around anymore. He'd be about 110 years now. A few seasons afterward, I moved on from farming and got a temporary job driving a hack, or cab, or taxi if you like, Uber's going to kill them soon. So, I don't care anymore. It was obvious to me in the 1990's, that the death of the family farm, was right around the corner. You can't live on farm wages, even you trade/barter overtime for beef. All the farmer's confessed they didn't really own their own farms. Every year they had to beg the banks for hundreds of thousands of dollars. The grape picker alone, even back then, was over a quarter of million dollars. Forget about all the other expenses, fuel, labour, fertilizer, fungicides, pesticides, (evil pesticides, i had get a license, i know dangerous they are!!!!!) So, forget farming. I loved looking at the cow's eyes. They're so beautiful. I missed the herd dogs, the rat dogs, and the cats. I could go about all my animal friends, but I'll cut to the chase. I gave it up, and moved to the city...

It was not exactly a high point in my life, but it was a job. I drove around and around and around. Kinda like farming on tractor. You go round and round a field. I like the cab, it was fueled by propane, so it was a bit cleaner. etc. But, I had a heavy foot, so, I burning fuel, all day, every day. To combat a warming world, I started telling all my fares that the planet was heating up and we need to change, and change fast. Remember, I'm talking about the 1990's, long ago. I tried. I'll be brief, because most people answered the same way. They said, "If this is global warming, bring it on!"

Seriously, 75% said that. 25% agreed with me. I've tried everything since, to mend my ways, act cleanly, and recycle and try to convince to stop now.


I've even track my own footprint. Oh my God. If my footprint was huge despite all my best efforts, other people's feetprints were freakin' dinosaur like.
I want to cry now. And swear, because outside, it's like hell. It's so hot. The little squirrel was flat on his belly on the ground in the shade because it's suffering. I'm hiding inside. I'm a boy in a bubble like a young John Travolta. I don't cook with stove anymore. I try to not use much so I don't heat up the place and make the poor air conditioning work double time. It will blow up and I won't have any A/C. Then I'm f

I know why I am so angry. Once, I was living in the far north. At least as far as I dared to go. It was in the exact, or very close, middle of the North American continent. I lived just east of Winnipeg, Manitoba in Northwestern Ontario. God, it was beautiful. I want to cry. I had to move back to the place where I born after about 7 years. I came to Southern Ontario. Where it's hot. In Kenora, I only experienced one full on heat wave. Otherwize, I loved it. Today, here near, those Niagara Falling Waters... I'm baking like a smoked salmon. Today, on the weather network, I see were blasting another heat record to hell. Lately, the only weather to be hotter at this time of year, was a 1973 late summer heatwave.

I often try to forget Kenora. It hurts to remember all that joy in not hating my surroundings. Here, I'm surrounded my pollution, urban sprawl, industry, etc. At least there is some trees outside my window and I feed birds, squirrels and chipmunks. I haven't seen the chipmunk lately. I hope that some bad person who lets their cats outsides, didn't eat it. One earlier in the spring was severely injured. A cat (maybe, I shouldn't be prejudiced, I didn't happen) broke it's back and could only manage to drag it's legs along. But, it did survive and frankly, it's struggle to survive gave me inspiration. To do the same. So, that's what I'm goin'. I watching as one vicious storm approaches due to the heat and humidity. My poor child is in a school without air conditioning. I'm not there, but I'd probably shut down the school and send the kids home. It's supposed to be this way for days. Heck, I might kid home or take him out early. (someone's car/scooter alarm is going off. I really hate people you know) My problem is that I love people. I love animals.

BUT. PEOPLE CAN BE GIANT JERKS. Animals can be jerks too. I teach son this all the time and say nature is savage. He is interested in birds. I'm describing the pecking order. The alarm is still going... I almost erased everything I just wrote by accident. Thank God for the undo button. Sometimes, I type so fast, I'll hit the wrong. In past, I've actually erased large amounts of writing and couldn't get it back. I started writing on an actually typewriter with paper. It had it draw backs, but at least if you made a mistake, there was the risk of destroying everything you had just done.

I just copied and pasted to notepad. Always have a back up plan. I have water stored. The alarm outside started again. Oh anyways, I checked Kenora's weather.

It's 15 C or 59 F. with clouds. High temp 19C or 66 F

In Niagara, we're hovering above 31C feels like 44 C and suppose climb to 32 or 33C. Or, 88F feeling like 109 degrees. If you cool, a cool person, back in the 1970s, 1980s, and Nineties, if it was hot, you said, Wow, it's so hot, it's like 90. And that was something you said in the middle of summer during the occasional heatwave. Now, everyday in the summer is actually-literally 90 and not just like 90 degrees man. Like totally...

Gag me with a spoon. I'm trapped in a bubble. The freakin

.... the freakin world outside is hell like. Like totally. We've had a rare drought. And I've watched the animals suffer and their desperate struggle for food. I would have weaned off the bird foo months ago. That would be if.... I didn't understand that they are starving. I've watched the behaviour. It's desperate. It's been a whacky year dating all the way back to early spring. Night and day. Up and down roller coaster with a ride through a sauna at the end.

What was my point? Oh yeah. Stop polluting


Oh, and this is addressed to my alien friends. I'm completed my report, at any time, you pick me up, I keep saying this....

just saying


I'm going to edit and add one last thing I just remembered. While I was driving a taxi way back when, I had many interest people as customers. ( If you drive for living, and take passengers, get out of the car and help them, especially, the elderly... I always helped my seniors...) I actually had a famous person who literally, changed the course of history. Wow. Too long a story for here. She was awesome. Betty Oliphant. en.wikipedia.org...

She was in the middle of the www.thestar.com...

She told me lots more... Remarkable lady. Anyway, it was another customer who reinforced my view of the world when it came to global warming. I had just picking up from the airport. He was returning from Asia. He was a scientist who had traveled throughout China and Mongolia. He job was to interview old farmers. Just like i had interviewed Jasper. Except, he talked to many, many farmers. And they all told the same story.

It's hotter. The spring comes earlier. The fall comes later. And the droughts are more common.

This is math people. I'm here to debate. This is a report for the aliens. Because, from I see and hear, and have witnessed.

HUMANITY is saying, with a giant collective voice... just like G. dingdong Bush,

"BRING IT ON!!!!"



well people...
it's been brought on, and we still haven't changed anything.
in fact.
the big nuclear bus
is heading for cliff
and no one is driving



edit again

oh, outside, there was brief rain. now the sun is back out, the water on the ground is evaporating, driving the humidity even higher....

oh, wonderful things....

I want to add more about Betty Oliphant. Except, it would be off topic. However, I did bring her up during my storytelling.

I think I'm going to write about Betty. I don't under which forum I should post. But the story needs be told. She had a huge influence in history. You wouldn't at first think so, but if you study the defection and try to see behind the curtain, the bigger story that hasn't been told. I'm realizing that she told me the extra stuff that I can't find online. There's stuff about her and the Russian. It says she went to the USSR. wow....

Here's an quote from a story....

"In 1969, Ms. Oliphant became associate artistic director of the National Ballet of Canada, resigning in 1975 to devote herself full-time to the school. When Russian superstar Mikhail Baryshnikov dramatically defected in 1974 in Toronto, Ms. Oliphant made a lasting impression on the famed dancer. In the late 1990s, when Mr. Baryshnikov received an honorary degree from the University of Toronto, one of his few requests was to spend the day with Ms. Oliphant so his family could meet the woman he described as legendary."

www.theglobeandmail.com...


She was part of a conspiracy. And please moderators excuse this small diversion, and maybe someone can tell me which forums needs this story.

I'm sure the CIA was involved. She didn't say that to me. But during her storytelling, there were many details and people that she was orchestrating to make defection possible.


Oh Hollywood, come get the rights to my story... just kidding. should i wrote more i don't more

Thanks for this very interesting topic.

I grew up in Perth County, which is smack in the middle of Southern Ontario and, during my youth (1954 to 1963) when I was 7 to 16 years old, I also worked on a farm, and also neighbouring farms, doing exactly what you described; baling, harvesting corn, etc. It was really hard work during some of the hottest times of the year. I even stooked grain like the Mennonites still do today.

The memories of those years is dearly held by me because, even as a child and youth, the work I did was welcomed and I grew strong and well-liked in the community (such as it was). That's a great feeling.

When I married at age 23, (early 1970's) we moved into the North West Territories to get away from what I saw as a deterioration of the quality of life in Ontario: The weather sucked, good jobs sucked and most people my age sucked. It seemed to me that whatever positive social life existed soured with the ongoing horrors of the Viet Nam war. We were starting a family and there was no way I wanted any part of it even though I'd been in the Canadian Forces for years.

When our first son was born, we (my wife and I) decided to plan on returning to Ontario as the NWT is no place for a child to grow up. The weather is harsh and a midnight sun quickly turns into a day long night in winter, with temps reaching to 40 below. We survived 3 winters and then headed back to Perth County.

Finding a good job in the Hydro Power business, I stuck with that for 35 years and finally pensioned out in the 2000's.

Now my wife and I live alone and our two sons are spread out across Canada, one in Alberta and the other in Niagara Region.

We still live in the place where I grew up, where my wife grew up surrounded by relatives who can remember family from the earliest settlers in the area, going back 170 years. Mixed farming people who worked to land and carved out a living by the strength of their backs and raising big families. I respect those people even though they're long gone and hear stories from living relatives about their hardships and good years.

Today, those 100 acre mixed farms are long gone, replaced by croppers owning hundreds of acres each and the equipment, as you said, is into the multi-millions of dollars. An acre of good land costs thousands and the old barns and houses are being constantly demolished. Rather sad to see, honestly.

And I agree with you, the weather was intolerable this past summer, with almost a month of (combined) heat alerts just like we're having today. I looked at my thermometer and 32 degrees C (close to 90 F) and it feels like over 40 with the humidex. I'm tired of feeling lazy, sweaty and uncomfortable. I'm not used to seeing such weather and I wish I could move into Alberta, to the Foothills and Rocky Mountains and I don't care if it snows in September. Anything is better that this awful heat.

It was actually refreshing to watch Revenant last night... like a tall glass of lemonade rattling with ice cubes.

Hang tough, ericblair4891.

Things are hot on the east coast this year, but where I am at in the central plains, it is very comfortable to cool. This past weekend is the traditional time for our first football game. Usually, it is stinkin', intolerable hot. This year, we had our AC off and the windows open. Thetemps were down in the 50s overnight.

Of course today it is pressing 90 and muggy, but it is usually so much hotter.

These last two months have been drastically cooler on average than they usually are.

I think you guys on the coast better watch out for a storm working its way out of the tropics. Your coastal waters are hot, but I think our summer heat is spent out where I'm at, and that's strange.

a reply to: ericblair4891

I live out in Joshua Tree CA we had an entire month of 100 - 115 it's finally cooling off been in the 90's even mid 80s. I love it out here especially the national park here is beautiful in summer.

I made a 35 minute drive to Palm Spring one day and it was 123 and that was in the shade, I about died that day.

a reply to: desertguy

I can't imagine that. Except when I was working in a restaurant I was face first in that kinda heat. But to be completely, inside that convection oven, oh my

a reply to: ericblair4891

Yes was horrible that was the hottest day on record for Palm Springs I can't Imagine if they had a power outage during that..

a reply to: ketsuko

Went to the season opener for the Huskers this last weekend and it was nice. Normally we have upper 90's the first two games and it is absolutely miserable in Memorial stadium. This year it was 70's and wonderful, a welcome surprise from years past.

We just destroyed the old record.

It's 34C feels like 45C.
That's 93f feels like 113F.

The old record was 29.9C
86F

I hate it
www.stcatharinesstandard.ca...

This story says Niagara was the hottest place in Canada. Well duhhhhhh

a reply to: ericblair4891


I'm sure glad we took our niece
from New Zealand, up to see the Falls
last year! That was hot enough!
Couldn't wait to get on the boat & get wet!

A couple of our grown kids, have been
bugging us to cut our big trees down,
that are close to the house!
Moss is starting to grow on the roof!
And if there's a wind storm,
branches will hit the roof!
Just get more air conditioners!
Yada, yada, yada...!

They don't get the whole transpiration &
cooling process! My parents in 44 years,
never needed an air conditioner!
Until about 5 years ago, we didn't either!

Dad would put a box fan in a window upstairs,
on the sunnier/south side of the house,
after supper. He faced it blowing outside.
Then he would open one window,
in the other upstairs rooms,
on the shady/north side.
The fan pulled the cooler air through
the whole upstairs & out on the hotter side.
By bedtime it was nice & cool!

The kids weren't born yet when we had
the gas shortage & you were only allowed
to get gas on the day determined by the last
# on your license plate! Or rolling brownouts
in some cities! That was when almost everyone
in our neighborhood, got wood burners,
& put carpeting over their hardwood floors,
to help make the house warmer in the winter!

If it keeps going like it has been,
we will wish that we had more,
bigger trees, not less!
The two kids that are afraid of big trees,
& cut down quite a few at their houses,
will be begging to sleep over at our house,
if there is a repeat of the '70's!
Or at least the grandkids will be...
I don't think our kids will eat crow!!!

WOQ

a reply to: ketsuko

These last two months have been drastically cooler on average than they usually are.

Some cool nights and evenings do not equate with drastically lower average temperatures. The thing is, while we may notice a night that's 10 degrees cooler than you'd think, we don't tend to pay much attention to all those days that are 1 or 2 degrees warmer. The bumps don't affect the average as much as the trend does. That's kinda the idea behind using averages.


Even minimum temperatures were above average. Pretty much across the country.



It's interesting though, the actual data fits in pretty well with the long range forecasts from mid-May for the summer.
The reason the central states are cooler (less warm?) is because of all the precipitation earlier in the year. The soil was very damp and evaporative cooling helps to keep temps down. A bit.



And, in response to the OP.
I think weather is cool. Even when it's hot.

It's also a good topic of conversation.

a reply to: Phage

the great thing is, no matter what we think we know, the Earth will do what it wants and we will adapt to the changes or be removed rather quickly. So enjoy the ride, enjoy the longer summers, enjoy the shorter winters.

a reply to: ericblair4891


The summer has always been hot and steamy in the south, back home in my Island we get very hot during the summer and more comfortable hot in what we call winter or just Christmas.

I spend time in NY, is hot too in the summer but more like back home in the Islands.

I also spend time in Hawaii, beautiful weather just cooler, Florida steamy hot.

California desert, now that was hot, hot but dry hot, makes your sinuses hurt all the time.

We already had the worst of the summer in the south, I think it lasted about one month and half, now we are getting beautiful warm weather, not as steamy, the one that you can seat outside and enjoy coffee, but darn the car still gets hot inside.