Here There and Everywhere

Expat wanderer

Daytime Weather Drama

No sooner had I sent the last post than all hell broke loose. The sky opened up and the rain poured down, Qatteri Cat hid under the table, the lightning danced out over the Gulf, two, three strikes at a time, the wind blew, the thunder roared and my camera had a hard time knowing where to focus. I am running around, trying to capture some of the drama, and eventually things start to lighten up. Qatteri Cat has resumed his spot on the table and watches as things calm down.

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I download my shots and attempt to upload – only to discover – we lost our Internet.

I run the diagnostic programs and it tells me it is the server, nothing I can do, so I work on other projects and come back – maybe an hour later – to discover I’m back up again.

So here is a little of what we saw:

Torrents – real torrents of rain, sheets of rain:
00rainnorain

And here are some drops being blown by the wind:

00windandrain

And all those little white things? Those things you can see against the dark of the trees? Those are raindrops, except they are more like very long drops!

00rainandtrees

I feel like a little kid. It was fun. It was wonderful. I want more! I want more! More!

March 30, 2009 Posted by | Beauty, ExPat Life, Kuwait, Weather | 2 Comments

Drama Drama Drama

Last night, around one, I could see the flash of lightning reflected through the curtains, and hear the loud thundering boom, and I couldn’t resist getting up to see all that was going on. Wow! Earth in all her glory, a truly magnificent thunderstorm, with sound and light and magnificent bursts of rain – drama drama drama.

This morning, we have a wonderful sky, full of light and shadows, a day that can go either way – or both ways!

00dramadramadrama

The day is dramatically cooler from yesterday, and the rest of the week is also supposed to be cooler, quite a change from earlier forecasts.

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You can see all the way to the horizon today. The air is clean and breathable. My newly washed windows are spotted – there was a lot of dust brought down by this storm, thanks be to God. I can breathe!

March 30, 2009 Posted by | ExPat Life, Kuwait, Living Conditions, sunrise series, Weather | 13 Comments

Ghostly Sunrise

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One minute I looked and there was nothing, the next, this faint outline of the rising sun. It doesn’t look like rain – remember the forecast for today was 100% precipitation? Today the forecast is only for 30% rain.

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I wouldn’t mind a little rain.

Today is one of those “miles to go before I sleep” kind of days. While it isn’t a snowy evening, and “woods” is not a word I would easily associate with Kuwait, nonetheless, I have promises to keep . . .

Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening

Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.

My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.

He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound’s the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.

The woods are lovely, dark and deep.
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.

Robert Frost

March 29, 2009 Posted by | Community, ExPat Life, Kuwait, Living Conditions, Poetry/Literature, sunrise series, Weather | 8 Comments

Sunrise 28 March 09

Yikes. Almost a quarter of 2009 gone already? Yikes.

The Gulf is as smooth as glass once again today, people are out looking for little fish or shellfish to add to their Kuwait bouillabaisse, and the roads are quiet. It is another perfect day in Kuwait.
00sunrise28mar09

It’s clear. Not a lot of haze, I can see almost to the horizon . . . but I am having trouble breathing. I don’t have asthma, or I don’t think I do, but some days I wake up feeling like I am not getting enough oxygen, and this is one of them. I don’t understand – no dust storm, no nothing, but I feel like a goldfish whose water needs changing.

The temperatures this week are perfect – not a too-hot day in the bunch, all just right for picnics and sitting outside for coffee at night. Pure heaven.

wea28mar09

Did you see that? Tomorrow we have 100% chance of precipitation? How often do you see that; weather people so sure that they will say 100%? I think I would say 95% just to be on the safe side, LOL.

We had eight drops on our windshield on the way to church yesterday. AdventureMan called it torrential. He says in Kuwait, eight raindrops equals a torrent. Let’s see what tomorrow brings. Have a great day, Kuwait.

March 28, 2009 Posted by | ExPat Life, Health Issues, Kuwait, Living Conditions, sunrise series, Weather | 6 Comments

Sunrise March 26, 2009

It is a glorious sunrise. There are just enough clouds to radiate and reflect the glory of the rising sun, the haze has retreated, at least temporarily. Looking closer, however, you can see a totally separate layer of brownish yellow, and in this photo, it is even higher, above the rising sun. As I watched the layer, it morphed from a whale’s tale, to an elephant spouting water, to a scorpion tale, rising out of the rising sun.

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It looks like we can breathe more safely today, Kuwait, as we get ready for the weekend. Yesterday, I couldn’t keep my eye make up on – I didn’t even know it but I was rubbing it off as I rubbed my irritated eyes. Let’s hope today is a better day.

We’re having a little cold spell – temperatures will be a little lower today. For all my friends in Germany, in Seattle, New York and other assorted – and cold – places, that was a little joke. We have had temperatures up in the 80’s and 90’s.

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Perfect weather for fishing. I want this boat:

00fishingboat

March 26, 2009 Posted by | ExPat Life, Kuwait, Living Conditions, sunrise series, Weather | Leave a comment

Light Haze My Foot!

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The sun is a mere light dot in the sky, small, impotent, far away and struggling to break through the “light haze.” The “light haze” is so think that I can only see a couple hundred meters off the shore, and my head is thick and it is harder to breathe this morning. I have a very bad feeling about this “light haze.”

March 25, 2009 Posted by | ExPat Life, Health Issues, Living Conditions, Weather | 2 Comments

Blush Pink Dawn 24 Mar 09

It was one of those hushed, still mornings; once again the water is smooth as glass and the sky is just preparing to receive the sun, all glow-y and blushing, but without the presence of the awaited guest:

00justbeforedawn24mar09

This morning’s temperature at 0630 was the expected high temperature back in January. It is still fresh, but it won’t be for long.

wea24mar09

Have a great day, Kuwait!

March 24, 2009 Posted by | ExPat Life, Kuwait, Living Conditions, sunrise series, Weather | Leave a comment

Sunrise March 21, 2009

For all your Kuwaiti students back in the USA who check in daily to see what Kuwait looks like – I am sorry to tell you, you are missing one of the most beautiful days of the year. The sun rose over a sea so still it is like glass; it looks so solid you could walk on it:

0021mar09sunrise

You wonder how I know you are Kuwaiti students? I use this wonderful software called StatCounter which I love.

What is STATCOUNTER?
A free yet reliable invisible web tracker, highly configurable hit counter and real-time detailed web stats. Insert a simple piece of our code on your web page or blog and you will be able to analyse and monitor all the visitors to your website in real-time!

It allows me to see where people who check my blog are checking in from – like if you are at University of Arizona, for example, it might show me that. People who have commented are identified from previous comments. It is a great little utility, and a lot of fun when you have a little time to spare.

For those of you in Kuwait – look at this week to come:

wea21mar09

It doesn’t get any more beautiful in Kuwait. Get outside today! It is gorgeous out there!

March 21, 2009 Posted by | Blogging, ExPat Life, Kuwait, Living Conditions, sunrise series, Technical Issue, Weather | 13 Comments

Discouraging Sunrise 19 March 2009

When I got up this morning, my heart sank. It is not a glorious sunrise, it isn’t even one of Kuwait’s silvery sunrises, but a very very grey sunrise.

00smoggysunrise

The Germans have a word “smutzich” (I may not have spelled that right) that means dirty, filthy, covered with grime . . . and the sunrise reminds me of that, it is grimy . . . and discouraging. That thin layer of yellow, whatever it is, is closer.

Weather Underground says the entire week will be clear:

00wea19mar09

But it amends that forecast with what is happening right now:

00wea0730

It might be a cloud, but what a grimy cloud! I hate to think that we breathe that air!

March 19, 2009 Posted by | ExPat Life, Health Issues, Kuwait, Living Conditions, sunrise series, Weather | 6 Comments

Weather Goof

Weather Underground says there is a light haze. There is a haze – it is not what I would call light. When I got up this morning, there were even brief rainbursts – at one point, sheets of rain, but for mere seconds, barely enough to damp down the dry dust floating around. Looks like a fairly serious haze for drive-to-work time. Aaarrgh.

wea16mar09

March 15, 2009 Posted by | ExPat Life, Kuwait, Living Conditions, Weather | 5 Comments