Tag Archives: nature

The Polar Vortex Does NOT Come to NC

Surprise. The Polar Vortex is basically a round circulation of air at the north and south poles. It stays pretty round until something disrupts it. Right now, some ACTUAL scientists believe electromagnetic anomalies, or rather souped up EM behaviors, are the reason the north polar vortex is currently misshapen. Stay with me now; I’m engaging my nerd science urge, which rules my life all the time. But I have to keep it in check because most people’s eyes glaze over if you mention science. If you’re still here: MY PEOPLE!!!

So what. Well, if the circulation of air, moving pretty fast, breaks format, all of the other weather around it is affected. If the circle breaks towards the south, sort of droops down, all of the surrounding weather, including Canadian cold as crap weather, gets pushed down. It’s like it was shoved. THAT’S what’s happening to us right now in NC. It’s what happened to TX a couple of years ago. It’s not a mere ‘Alberta Clipper’. It’s the effects of the disorganized polar vortex making all of us miserable. It is NOT global warming. Huge eye roll.

The polar vortex is STILL AT THE POLE, it’s just misshapen. Now don’t start talking about global warming, to be said with a loud whiney voice. It’s not that. If you believe the ACTUAL scientists, it’s happening because of a blast of electromagnetic radiation from the SUN. This could last right into Spring. Won’t this be fun. All I worry about is 1) electricity bill; 2) my cats getting too cold; and 3) roof collapsing. Not in that order; cats come first. If we get three feet of snow, the roof thing could actually become reality.

I’m writing this riveting blog about weather because I recently said, “We don’t have a polar vortex in the Southeast!” And well, that person just didn’t believe me. But no, the vortex is right where it’s supposed to be; it’s just been zapped. Good news: it will reform into that nice tight circle. When it’s good and ready.

Now about the sun. (Are you still here?) One day, the sun is going to explode and engulf Earth. You know that, right? Relax, it’s going to be millions of years from now. Meanwhile it’s a huge ball of gas, really HOT gas, and it is not perfectly round nor perfectly predictable. Occasionally it has a tantrum and when it does, we feel the effects of it, and isn’t it amazing that it’s not by feeling hot? LOL. No, it’s ice, snow, disrupted electronic devices, wonky internet…stuff like that. And that’s what’s happening now.

So stay warm, try to keep out the cold as much as possible, protect your pets, FEED THE BIRDS (and give them water in the form of water, which takes some work). If it does snow a lot, take a walk in it, because it’s good for the soul.

Yep, Cat on a Leash

Speaking of gardens…For the first time ever in this home, I had nesting birds in one Loropetalum and nesting birds in the bluebird house.  The Loropetalum is pruned into a tree shape and resides in the corner of my garden as an anchor plant.  The Bluebird house is on the other side of the yard and has never hosted Bluebirds, ever.

This year I had a Cardinal pair nesting and a Chickadee pair nesting.  They were a determined set of bird parents, building nests in earnest in order to lay eggs, which they did.  Then they took turns guarding the dwellings from Zach my cat, and from me.  Zach has an injury to his eye, which was there from the time I adopted him as a tiny little guy; the vet isn’t sure it didn’t happen in the litter, or during birth, but it doesn’t seem to slow Zach down or need any medicinal attention.  I think it gives him character…as if he needed any more.

Zach’s kingdom is my fenced yard, from which he has no desire to escape.  I planned to take him out for walks, so I leash trained him as a kitten, which turned out to be a good thing.  More to come on that.  But when it was time to venture out for a real walkabout?  Nope, he wasn’t having it.  So the vest and leash went on the shelf.  But it came in very handy while my bird parents were nesting.  Zach suited up in his ‘uniform’ twice a day, morning and evening, and we went into the little garden kingdom, with me holding him in check with the leash.  This kept the birds safe but gave Zach the excitement of watching the birds and smelling the fresh air.  It also gave me the joy of watching the bird journey.

I had a chance to learn the alarm call of Cardinal parents, and those of Chickadee parents.  Later on, after the chicks had flown, I got to hear the songs of happiness.  I loved this journey.

Both bird pairs fed their chicks when the eggs hatched.  The dad Cardinal didn’t do much other than guarding and alarming before the eggs hatched, but once they did, he got busy, alongside the mom Cardinal.  And both Chickadee parents worked equally hard throughout.  Chickadees lay a LOT more eggs, by the way, than Cardinals.  So I put out feed for the moms to keep their energy up.

The Chickadees were fun to watch because the food they brought to the chicks was nearly as big as their head and they were very wary of me and my cat.  They checked us out thoroughly before entering the house, and they peeked out, often with a worm dangling from the beak.  Very funny.  One of the Chickadee parents peeked out and looked ALL around before flying out for another meal for the kids.  I don’t know whether it was mom or dad, but it was adorable either way.

The first morning I went out and did not hear the Cardinal alarm cry, the silence seemed odd.  I said, “Where are the mom and dad Cardinals?”.  Zach didn’t answer.  It was very quiet.  I couldn’t get a look at the nest but I knew the babies were gone.  Next day, no Chickadee noise either.  Oddly, all of the other bird chatter was gone too.  So they must have had all of their friends watching us when we were outside.

It was sad.  I took a picture of the birdhouse Chickadee nest just to be sure, and yep, no baby birds.  But now that I know how the saga works out, I’ll be watching.  It was great getting to know the birds and Zach  even got used to sticking close to me, hearing “NO BIRDS, ZACH!”, so much so that the first day he was allowed out without his leash, he stuck by my side anyway.  

Animals.  Amazing.

Have a lovely day, everyone.