We are well settled into two cats now, though not the two we would have chosen. The only similarity between these two is that they are both very large cats. In terms of disposition, they couldn't be more different.
Atlas the Siamese sleeps curled up against the large, fuzzy Andy, except when he is making godawful meeser yowls at the him. The time spent yowling has fallen, but there are still several bouts a day. Andy just looks at this behavior in confusion unless he is bored. Then he swats at Atlas because he has found it makes Atlas jump interestingly.
They have a competition if we lie down, each trying to get closer to our face. This will work out better as the temperatures fall. It is quite uncomfortable in the summer.
Friday, September 30, 2011
Friday, September 16, 2011
Irene and Lee
This not so charming couple caused record breaking flooding inland in the Mohawk and Schoharie valleys of New York state and trashed much of southern Vermont and the Susquehanna Valley from New York into Pennsylvania before leaving. Irene was bad, unfortunately Lee came through a week latrer and doubled down the damages. It is taking some time to get a gauge of the full impact.
The water was particularly unkind to the major roads through villages in Greene, Montgomery and Schenectady counties and places like Wilmington Vermont. Some villages have condemned signs on the dangling front doors of a third of the properties along their main street. Places that have not flooded in many decades found themselves under 10 feet of water, and places that usually just flood turned into violent, brown rapids.
Lee spawned a small tornado or two as well, one of which was filmed crossing the NYS Thruway near Amsterdam by a panicked young woman sat in her car. The other, a probable but short-lived tornado near Glenville, landed near the therapeutic riding bar. Happily that didn't so more than scare the heck out of the horses for a moment - but stall guards all held and the horses got some extra hay to help calm their nerves as the storm abated.
Farms have had all of their crop fields destroyed, hitting the final crop of hay that was to keep their horses and cattle in feed over the winter. Of course estimates are that there are over 2000 cows that got caught in the rising waters in the Schoharie Valley alone, smaller farmers losing half their herd, and tragic stories such as the horse breeder who failed to heed warnings to move 21 broodmares and colts to higher ground. Smaller animals like pigs got caught with no recourse. There will be fewer mouths to feed this year. But the hay that has been going from this area to Texas, because of the drought there, has stopped moving.
Share farms like the one to which we belong lost some or all of their crop fields holding the harvest that should have made for bulging, heavy boxes of produce we get in this harvest season. Many CSA's like ours are managing to supply something in a box each week, but the owners are probably raiding their own winter food to do that. The dollar value of the losses is significant for operations that barely stay above water to start with. There is talk of some kind of targeted aid for farmers from our elected representatives.
Locks 8 through 11 on the Mohawk, on the Canal, are down until spring with damaged flood walls, power stations out and the river cutting a new channel beside the lock itself.
Our house never had the water nearer than a couple of blocks away. We were quite lucky.
The water was particularly unkind to the major roads through villages in Greene, Montgomery and Schenectady counties and places like Wilmington Vermont. Some villages have condemned signs on the dangling front doors of a third of the properties along their main street. Places that have not flooded in many decades found themselves under 10 feet of water, and places that usually just flood turned into violent, brown rapids.
Lee spawned a small tornado or two as well, one of which was filmed crossing the NYS Thruway near Amsterdam by a panicked young woman sat in her car. The other, a probable but short-lived tornado near Glenville, landed near the therapeutic riding bar. Happily that didn't so more than scare the heck out of the horses for a moment - but stall guards all held and the horses got some extra hay to help calm their nerves as the storm abated.
Farms have had all of their crop fields destroyed, hitting the final crop of hay that was to keep their horses and cattle in feed over the winter. Of course estimates are that there are over 2000 cows that got caught in the rising waters in the Schoharie Valley alone, smaller farmers losing half their herd, and tragic stories such as the horse breeder who failed to heed warnings to move 21 broodmares and colts to higher ground. Smaller animals like pigs got caught with no recourse. There will be fewer mouths to feed this year. But the hay that has been going from this area to Texas, because of the drought there, has stopped moving.
Share farms like the one to which we belong lost some or all of their crop fields holding the harvest that should have made for bulging, heavy boxes of produce we get in this harvest season. Many CSA's like ours are managing to supply something in a box each week, but the owners are probably raiding their own winter food to do that. The dollar value of the losses is significant for operations that barely stay above water to start with. There is talk of some kind of targeted aid for farmers from our elected representatives.
Locks 8 through 11 on the Mohawk, on the Canal, are down until spring with damaged flood walls, power stations out and the river cutting a new channel beside the lock itself.
Our house never had the water nearer than a couple of blocks away. We were quite lucky.
Sunday, September 4, 2011
No Eggplant for You
Like most in the area, our CSA had a goodly portion of their fields flooded or severely damaged from Irene. The flooded parts are of no use for the rest of this season. It will take a lot of remediation to clean them of the diesel oil and sewage that was part of the floodwater, especially for an organic farm. The nearly finished crops in other fields - the tomatoes, the eggplants and the squash were fatally damaged by wind and rain. The farm will be finishing the season by breaking into their late season crops - greens and cole crops - sooner than planned. Those crops were knocked around but not destroyed.
But they are the lucky ones, compared to the dairy farmers who have just several weeks to rebuild barns for the winter. Most were able to move their cows and other livestock to higher ground, but they couldn't move the barns or the milking parlors. And they lost much of the current hay and silage that was being stored for the winter. They have a short time to make very big decisions.
But they are the lucky ones, compared to the dairy farmers who have just several weeks to rebuild barns for the winter. Most were able to move their cows and other livestock to higher ground, but they couldn't move the barns or the milking parlors. And they lost much of the current hay and silage that was being stored for the winter. They have a short time to make very big decisions.
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