Here are the Sunday Comics for August 23, 2009 (I know, it is still Sunday morning for me, but it is a lot later for many of you…so come on down and move to California then!)
Before we get to the comics, however, I want to report about the terrible tornadoes that hit the province of Ontario, Canada. A series of devastating tornadoes hit the area of Durham, in the province of Ontario. As you all know, our own Gloeing Ember is Canadian. I chatted with him this earlier this morning. He told me that the tornadoes were unusual for two reasons: (1) tornadoes are not common in that part of Canada; and (2) the tornadoes were moving with incredible velocity as they raced across towns, wreaking havoc in the areas where they touched down.
Wherever we live on this Earth, we are, of course, subject to natural disasters. For example, in California we have earthquakes to deal with. But tornadoes have their very own brand of “meanness.” They hit suddenly, without much warning and when they hit, they hit hard destroying anything that gets on their way. Every year tornadoes in North America kill and injure more people than earthquakes do.
When we chatted this morning, Gloeing told me that he will be spending most of the day today (Sunday) doing recovery and clean-up work in the areas hardest hit by the tornadoes. Gloeing (or more affectionately, Glo) is the kind of man who does not hesitate to step up to the plate and do whatever is necessary to help those in need. He is the kind of man who will, quite literally, rush into a burning building to save others. For over a year now Glo has been BH’s main benefactor (he gets upset when I remind others of all that he has contributed to BH). In addition, for over a year now Glo has been my very own sweetie pie. I am extremely proud of him and of all the things that he does.
If you have the time, please send him a note telling him how much you appreciate all he does.
For more information on the tornadoes, please click here: Deadly Tornadoes Hit Canada
My thoughts and prayers are with the Canadian people during this tragedy.
I have been out for a few days on a short family holiday. Normally (as you all probably know by now) I take lots of pictures of the places that I visit.
For some odd reason, however, my camera stayed on top of my desk at home. So I was not able to take any pictures at all. But fear not.
I recently installed a new version of my old photo-editing program. In the process, I “discovered” photographs from a trip that I took a couple of summers ago. My daughter and I traveled by train from Los Angeles to Chicago by way of the Southwest Chief. It was quite an interesting trip; the train took us across some of the most beautiful and rugged portions of the American West. Along the way, we met many interesting people.
From the window of our sleeping car, I was able to snap a few pictures of some very interesting cloud formations (we do not get many clouds in Southern California). I thought I would share some of those pictures with you today.
Note: The photo above, is an example of "mammatus" clouds. Mammatus, also known as mammatocumulus, meaning "Mammary cloud" or "Breast cloud" is a meteorological term applied to a cellular pattern of pouches hanging underneath the base of a cloud. The name "mammatus" is derived from the Latin mamma (udder or breast), due to the clouds' characteristic shape. (Must have been a horny metereologist who named this cloud formation.) Mammatus are most often associated with the anvil cloud that extends from a cumulonimbus, but may also be found under altocumulus, altostratus, stratocumulus, and cirrus clouds, as well as volcanic ash clouds.[citation needed] In the United States, sky gazers may be most familiar with the very distinct and more common cumulonimbus mammatus.
When occurring in cumulonimbus, mammatus are often indicative of a particularly strong storm or maybe even a tornadic storm. These tend to form more often during warm months and over the midwest and eastern portions of the United States, and more infrequently over the west and southwest (that is why it was so rare to find these clouds over the New Mexico sky on my way to Chicago). Due to the intensely sheared environment in which mammatus form, aviators are strongly cautioned to avoid cumulonimbus with mammatus.
From the same trip, a cow pasture at an altitude of nearly a mile up.
And here is a gaggle of Canadian geese (for Glo).
Finally, this morning I woke up with this song playing in my head. I hope you enjoy it:
John Lennon – INSTANT KARMA IS GONNA GET YOU
And now, without further delay are this morning’s Sunday Comics.
1 comment:
Awesome cloud pictures and cute geese. I hope that picture was not taken near an airport.
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