A little rain would have been nice after a couple weeks of some beautiful dry weather. A little. Instead, the downpours all day Monday and most of Tuesday have contributed to the already very high local river conditions, and is threatening to reach flood stage.
Here's a chart from the USGS of stream levels, in the area watersheds, of the past 45 days. Notice how the levels had just started to drop day by day, then Wham!
The Connecticut River just above us in Montague has entered "Action Stage", and is getting close to Flood Stage, as this NOAA chart shows:
Luckily the chart also shows that they're predicting the river level has peaked, and will now begin to taper off. Hope they're right, because what happens up there, is coming down here...
We needed the rain anyway. Just last Friday, the fields around Northampton airport were looking pretty dry. We thought it was unusual that a fog was hanging over field on the warm afternoon,
But a look in the rear view mirror as we moved along revealed it was actually a very fine, dry, sand and dust. We were contributing to the 'fog' greatly...
That field is usually a marvelous sunset-viewing area.
Springtime Is The Besttime
I often debate with my sister, and a lot of people really, about which is nicer; Spring or Fall. For me, Spring is hands down the best time of year. I don't understand the Autumnofiles.
The two main arguments in favor of Autumn that I hear, (and my responses):
"The weather is nice and cool."
Well, what's better than a 65 degree, crystal Spring day?
"The colors are beautiful as the leaves change"
Yes, agreed, but don't discount Spring's colors:
Some colors are even very Autumn-like.
The burst of Spring colors is followed by the sprightly green of the new leaves, a bright green, different from the darker greens of summer. Lengthening days, the fragrances, the sounds of wildlife, streams, thunder and rain. Even the return of insects is welcome, briefly. The days getting longer each day, and it's getting progressively warmer, not colder... Ahh yes. Take a deep breath of it all. I agree the Autumn is nice too, and the foliage is classic New England, for about a week or two. And the cooler weather is refreshing after a hot summer. But, (and maybe I'm just getting old), I can't forget any more that Autumn is just a colorful doorway, to the gloom and doom of winter conditions, for five or six months...The snow is nice if it falls about the holidays, more of the classic New England we all love. But generally, once the leaves fall off those trees, we might as well be in Siberia.
Have your fall. For me, bring on the Vernal.
A Hint Of Classic
LA Fitness appears to be putting the finishing touches on it's occupation of the old Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield.
It also appears they're going to keep the tall iconic basketball panels, on the outside of the building.
Good. I suppose if you think about it, though, the basketball-themed panels have really little to do with an all around fitness center. But still, they're in keeping with the overall basketball vibe surrounding the new Basketball Hall of Fame nearby, the centerpiece of this section of the 'New Riverfront'.
It's good if they chose to retain some of the local history.
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