I really can’t believe it’s September tomorrow. But I have no frame of reference
either. I guess at home you’ll be watching the leaves become less green or recently-born
animals becoming be less cute. You can feel it in the air, the crisper breeze,
the extra layer you need to wear outside. In Australia and NZ the changes are
different but it’s change towards an equinox season nonetheless. I guess that’s
the only similarity I share – the change towards equinox, the hours of
light and dark becoming more equal. That is something we’re experiencing everywhere
around the globe.
Today is a snowy, blowy day. I looked at the weather chart this morning and
saw it was blowing 37 knots with an ambient temperature around -17C. Thirty-seven
knots… hmm, I tried to remember: was the threshold for visiting the lab 30
or 40 knots? Minus seventeen?! That can’t be right, it’s toasty outside! What
a change from the minus forties and clear skies we had last week.
Still, at least you could work outside in that weather. The first time I experienced
weather like this it was exhilarating, it was phenomenal, it was an Incredible
Storm. We found excuses to go outside just to know what it felt like, to say
we’d been here and battled it. In contrast, no-one seemed very fussed at all
this morning. Breakfast, cup of tea, melt-tank was a bit of a slog I imagine
and off to work. The CASLab is out of bounds but we expected that yesterday
and Steph set it up to run without us today so I’m not concerned. I went to
the Simpson platform to work on some emails and make some chemical solutions.
Digging snow for the Simpson melt-tank was a bit cold on the face but not as
bad as I had expected it to be.
It’s not like we aren’t fussed or touched by this weather – I wore goggles
today, pulled my bearpaws well over my sleeves and made sure to put my windy
top hood up before going outside. Ness and I unwound and connected the line
between the Laws platform and the other hand-lines so we can feel our way home
from anywhere even if the visibility craps out completely. I mean, it was blowing
40 knots outside! When I got inside finally I was covered in snow and exhausted.
Battling against that wind is a struggle but going home is bliss!
It’s now reached 45 knots and -13C. The temperature is a bit deceptive though
since at wind speeds like that you don’t feel much warmth. The subjective temperature
is -37.8C, much closer to what we’re used to! Still, I didn’t bother with my
dead rabbit hat today: already had enough clobber on my head without the hassle
of that! The building is shaking and wind howling, you can hear it everywhere.
I can’t weigh anything accurately in the wet chem lab cos the platform is shaking
so much. The rocking chairs in the living room rock on their own and pictures
start tilting. I have to head back to the Laws now and know it will take a good
ten minutes to get properly togged up and I’ll be fairly tired when I get there.
I don’t really know why I’m writing this blog – I have nothing new and
exciting to report. Just thought I’d say hello and talk about the weather. Some
things are the same all the world over I guess.
It’s a beautiful clear day in Cambridge this morning – clear skies and long shadows (if you’re up early enough). Makes a change from the downpours of rain we’ve been having lately. Even with a slight chill in the air it still only takes me about 10 seconds to get ready to leave the house – shoes on, turn the handle and I’m out! No hand lines required to get to work, but following the river helps ….
I’ll be hopping on my bike, heading off to work in a moment – that is, if the police don’t arrest me because they are bike prejudice. Suddenly our police force has gone mad, cyclists who were arrested in the Critical Mass protest still haven’t received their confiscated bikes back from the police. I need to ride to my client’s studio which is teedering near the “restricted zone” and I hope I’m not mistaken for an activist, the helmet could give me away.
No heavy wind here today, and very sunny skies.
Temperature is beginning to climb here too, though we’re heading into the plus 20s rather than the minus teens. I shed my gloves a week or so ago, packed away safely for another year. Gloves in Australia always makes me laugh – temperature relativity is a strange thing. Today I’m wearing a jacket but in London at these temperatures I would probably be thinking about donning a bikini.
Skies are clear over Sydney. Still no rain of substance (though we did have a couple of insane downpours last week reminded us what it sounds and smells like) and the drought continues to test the wit and will of farmers further inland. Whale migration has trickled to a stop and the Rosellas are stretching their wings for spring.
Roll on summer and lazy days on the beach…