Seasons

Pulse, 3 Weeks Into Winter and I’m Longing For Spring.

Here we are 4 days into 2017, and officially 3 weeks into winter. Tomorrow, we are supposed to get 4 inches of snow, and the high temps are going to maybe hit 20 degrees, which frankly has me longing for my favorite time of the year, mid-May through early July. All of this got me to thinking about the powerful thunderstorms that roll through the midwest fueled by warm moist air blowing up from the Gulf of Mexico and colliding with a cold front rolling in off of the Northern Plains. That got me to searching the internet for some video footage to warm my chilled bones and remind there are just 84 more days until spring.

My discovery this afternoon was the video below by Mike Olbinski. Shot in 4K, color graded to black and white, timed out to just under 5 minutes, it’s absolutely breathtaking. The fact that he had the idea of taking this in a new direction with a black and white post production just makes it. The soundtrack adds to the ominous power of the visuals and makes me long for the opportunity to be able to sit on the sun porch and watch this happening live. (not the tornado part, I like my house).

If you have the opportunity watch this in 4K on a larger TV. The visuals will knock your socks off. For more info on how Oblinski made it click through here.

Here Comes Summer

My favorite season of the year begins tomorrow with the Summer Solstice. Tonight I watch the last day of Spring give way to the hot growing season. To the march from lush green to, faded green summer, and on into yellow early Autumn. Here is to the next 90 days of the summer season.

Seasonal Changes

seasons This isn’t a reflection on the unseasonably cool weather that we have been experiencing. This is more a reflection on the changes in the quality of daylight.

Getting up in the mornings to take the dogs out for a walk, I have started to notice that grand shift the sun is making toward the southern horizon as fall approaches. In just about 3 weeks we hit the autumnal equinox, that point where just like in the spring we have equal amounts of day and night. That point on the calendar signals that fall officially begins, and more importantly the azimuth of the sun will slip further down arcing lower as we approach the winter solstice.

The reason I mention this is that it seems like summer has gone to fast, and it seems like summer never really arrived. It has been so cool and wet in Kansas City this summer it has felt like the Pacific Northwest. I hope that the next three to five weeks will be sunny and maybe unseasonably warm for a change.

One of the things that I am really interested in as fall and winter approach is how the passive solar treatment on the new house is going to work. Half of the southern exposure of the house is glazed and covered with wood slatted movable screens, that control the amount of sunlight that enters the home. I’m anxious to see if when the screens are open if the house will maintain an even temperature using radiant heat from sunlight penetration into the home. I’m also curious about how the Galvalume siding on the front half of the house works as a radiant heat conductor for the south side of the home. It should be an interesting seasonal change.