Sunset, Kailua-Kona, The Big Island, Hawaii, March 11, 2024

Sunset, Kailua-Kona, The Big Island, Hawaii, March 11, 2024
Sunset, Kailua-Kona, The Big Island, Hawaii, March 11, 2024

Monday, February 25, 2013

Blowin' in the Wind -- Mon., Feb. 25

Our strong winds at the RV park Olympics yesterday afternoon were just the tip of the iceberg. (Oh wait...that's a mixed metaphor.) Today, the winds whipped up into a frenzy. This morning I woke up to the sound of something hitting the top of the RV and making a racket up there. It sounded like it hit, then scraped across and fell off because the noise was quickly gone. I don't think it did any damage, probably a small branch off the tree.

The RV was rockin'. Winds gusted up to 50 mph in San Antonio; outlying areas had gusts to 62 mph. On the news tonight were reports of metal roofs coming off a few buildings, trees uprooted and fires here and there. When the winds were going strong, you could hear the roar.

Amarillo, Texas, up in the panhandle, had a blizzard today that broke records from 50 years ago. They had snow and 75 mph winds. I'm glad that stayed to the north. Hopefully no RVers got caught in that storm.

Speaking of RVers...While sitting in the 5th wheel, I watched as groups of RVers piled into the park today, six at one time, three at another, two more sitting out in front of the building. RV park workers knew they were coming and were out front directing people which lane to go down so they could get everyone in off the main street. I can't imagine being out traveling in an RV in this wind. I bet they were happy to come (in from the storm) to our little enclave.

If anything lightweight was left outside today it probably ended up along a fence or at someone else's campsite. I found a pot holder on our patio. Underneath our neighbor's 5er is a small, rectangular red reflector light cover. It's not from our or our neighbor's rig, doesn't match. I saw outdoor rugs blown into heaps.

I ventured out to the post office and Walmart this afternoon. A few smaller branches were on the side streets, no big trees like the ones we saw on the news. Flags were standing straight out and my hair was blowin' in the wind!

When I went to the laundry room, I had to make sure to have a tight grip on all the laundry in the basket so it didn't fly across the RV park. For once there was no one else in the laundry room this Monday afternoon. Usually I'm fighting for machines on a Monday. Why is it that people do their laundry on a Monday? I know my Mom always did. Is Monday designated laundry chore day? I've tried to vary the days that I do laundry, but today we needed clean clothes, so Monday it was.

San Antonio art along the Museum Reach of the Riverwalk was damaged in the wind. Underneath one of the freeway overpasses hangs an art display of fish. A number of the fish broke due to the wind. We've seen them during the day. However, I've always wanted to see them at night when they light up. Here are pictures from a previous blog of the fish I'm talking about...




The photo below is of a plaque along the Riverwalk showing what the fish look like at night when they're illuminated. I hope they can repair the fish because I'd really like to see them at night.


The winds are supposed to die down tonight. Tomorrow should be a much calmer day. I plan to relax because it seems like all we've been doing for the last week is go, go, go.

On another note, The Mamas and Papas sang these lyrics, "Monday, Monday, can't trust that day. Monday, Monday, sometimes it just turns out that way. Oh, Monday mornin' you gave me no warning of what was to be..." (oh wait, there was a warning with a branch on the roof); scratch that.

I leave you with Bob Dylan's lyrics to "Blowin' in the Wind." Such a great song and it certainly came to mind today.
How many roads most a man walk down
Before you call him a man ?
How many seas must a white dove sail
Before she sleeps in the sand ?
Yes, how many times must the cannon balls fly
Before they're forever banned ?
The answer my friend is blowin' in the wind
The answer is blowin' in the wind.

Yes, how many years can a mountain exist
Before it's washed to the sea ?
Yes, how many years can some people exist
Before they're allowed to be free ?
Yes, how many times can a man turn his head
Pretending he just doesn't see ?
The answer my friend is blowin' in the wind
The answer is blowin' in the wind.

Yes, how many times must a man look up
Before he can see the sky ?
Yes, how many ears must one man have
Before he can hear people cry ?
Yes, how many deaths will it take till he knows
That too many people have died ?
The answer my friend is blowin' in the wind
The answer is blowin' in the wind.
Travel Bug has not been blown away. Have a good Tuesday everyone.




13 comments:

  1. Funny, my Mother did the wash on Mondays too. So did a lot of the neighbor women. I guess they liked to get out in the back yards and talk over the fence when the weather was warm. Maybe Monday was wash day because a lot of dirty clothes accumulated over the weekend.

    I usually wash on the weekends. Or if we need clothes. When we have been on trips in the RV I wash whenever I can. I like to leave a park with clean clothes and an empty laundry bin. Never know what the next place will be like.

    ReplyDelete
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    1. You can read some history of chore days on this site: http://hoover.archives.gov/LIW/pioneering/pioneering_pepin-chores.html

      Fascinating stuff how our culture changes and transforms over the years. Now we pretty much do chores whenever.

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  2. The wind was just as bad down here on the coast. We are waiting for daylight so we can pull our slides back out . Bummer those fish were damaged.

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    1. Did you get sandblasted?

      I was reading a blog of one of the gate guards (Texas Heat)...They lost their big awning in the wind even though it was closed and secured. Apparently it was quite the wind storm out there loads of blowing dust.

      Yeah, it is a bummer about the fish. I hope the artist can repair them or make some new ones.

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  3. Mom was a Monday washer, too ... I think it had to do with the accumulation from everyone being at home over the weekend ... and also a fresh start to the week, so to speak. I used to work from home on Fridays and Mondays, so I did the wash on Fridays usually. Nowadays ... I do the wash whenever I have load ready for the onboard washer.

    We had some strong rains last night, but no winds to speak of ... nice change from the last big storm we endured here in Montgomery.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You know what, you can Google ANYTHING. So I googled "Why is laundry a Monday chore?" And sure enough it brought up a bunch of links. Here's a historical take on it (note: you have to scroll about halfway down the page for the history of chores) http://www.thenewhomemaker.com/choredays

      Susan

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  4. For some reason I think Monday was the "traditional" day to do the wash. Mine usually gets done on Saturday so I have Sunday to chill out and play. Of course, here it is also dependent on whether we think we might lose power/water! Haha! Glad you're staying safe. We went through a crazy, violent storm in our popup at that park back in 2008. Our PUP came through just fine, but it sure was - as the saying goes - a gulley washer and toad strangler! Teehee!

    ReplyDelete
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    1. We had a gulley washer here late last year...luckily our site was on a little bit of a rise. About six sites in the park had about four inches of water surrounding their rigs. I wouldn't have liked that.

      Was your popup good and waterproof?

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  5. It seems like everywhere I go, Saturday is the day. Don't these people know they're retired and don't have to do laundry on Saturday?

    I hope your winds die down. 50mph....scary. I don't think I want to winter in Texas or Arizona. We're sitting here in Florida under a tornado watch with storms heading in from the Gulf. I'm not a happy camper right now!

    ReplyDelete
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    1. You know, compared to some places we could have been in the winter, we're enjoying south Texas. We've had many days in the 70s. But as they say, you can get summer and winter in the same week here in south Texas. Overall, though, I'd say it's a well-kept secret how nice it can be. (This coming from an Oregonian of over 30 years who has lived through months of gray skies and rain with daytime temperatures in the 40s.)

      Delete
  6. Here is a trip down memory lane....

    The days listed above were embroidered on dish towels, so the next generation would know the logical order to chores.

    Here is one of the 'poems' for learning the weekly chores. we have all heard it before.

    Here we go 'round the mulberry bush,
    The mulberry bush, The mulberry bush.
    Here we go 'round the mulberry bush,
    So early in the morning.

    These are the chores we'll do this week,
    Do this week, Do this week.
    These are the chores we'll do this week,
    So early every morning.

    This is the way we wash our clothes,
    Wash our clothes, Wash our clothes.
    This is the way we wash our clothes,
    So early Monday morning.

    This is the way we iron our clothes,
    Iron our clothes, Iron our clothes.
    This is the way we iron our clothes,
    So early Tuesday morning.

    This is the way we scrub the floor,
    Scrub the floor, Scrub the floor.
    This is the way we scrub the floor,
    So early Wednesday morning.

    This is the way we mend our clothes,
    Mend our clothes, Mend our clothes.
    This is the way we mend our clothes,
    So early Thursday morning.

    This is the way we sweep the floor,
    Sweep the floor, Sweep the floor.
    This is the way we sweep the floor,
    So early Friday morning.

    This is the way we bake our bread,
    Bake our bread, Bake our bread.
    This is the way we bake our bread,
    So early Saturday morning.

    This is the way we get dressed up,
    Get dressed up, Get dressed up.
    This is the way we get dressed up,
    So early Sunday morning.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh, wow, that is a trip down memory lane. I remember that ditty. How interesting to have a song to record the days for chores.

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  7. Oh my....I taught that song to my Kindergarten class for 34 years!

    With 4 teenagers I did laundry just about everyday.
    Hopefully, your weather will only get better this week. So sad about the fish. We missed them when we were in San Antonio.

    Have a great Tuesday Susan!

    ReplyDelete

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