The Optimistic Ontarian

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Derek's Fireworks over the Lake

Alisha's fiancé Derek loves fireworks, and he has become quite an accomplished pyrotechnist. His firework shows have become very popular among his family, and he always puts on a spectacular Canada Day show at the family cottage outside Thunder Bay. Since we were visiting, we received an invite to the event this year. In fact although we had intended to head home sooner, we were told in no uncertain terms that we HAD to stay for the Canada Day show.

The weather has been pretty good for the entire trip, and although there has been some rainy days, they really haven't spoiled our vacation. However, the weather forecast for the Canada Day weekend did not look promising, with rain predicted for most of the weekend. Determined to have a good fireworks show, Derek decided he would set them off on Saturday if it was a good day rather then waiting for Sunday and hoping for a break in the forecast rain.

Arriving at the cottage with a car full of fireworks and a table built especially to safely mount the various rockets, cherry bombs and massive firework cakes on a floating dock out in the lake, Derek was informed that the show was scheduled for Sunday, because guests had been invited and could not come on Saturday. When he expressed concern about the rain, his father assured Derek that the forecast called for rain all afternoon, but clearing by 5:00 pm. Now coming from Nova Scotia where even Cindy Day rarely gets the forecast that accurate, I had to share Derek's concern, but his dad was confident.

Sunday dawned with cloud and dark skies on the horizon, and by noon it was raining; “See, just like the forecast said.” was Derek's dad, David's optimistic response.

The Fireworks Table

By 2:00 pm, it was no longer raining, it was pouring, but David checked his phone and reassured us that it was still supposed to clear by 6:00 pm.

At 4:00 pm, the driveway was washing away, the downspouts could not longer handle the deluge of rain, and you needed both a raincoat and an umbrella to go outside. “Don't worry”, David assured us, “The weather forecast is saying it will clear by 7:00 pm.”

It was still raining at 6:00 pm, but not so hard, and perhaps the skies to the west might be a bit brighter. “Yup, we're good, clearing is expected by 8:00 pm” David claimed when everyone pointed out the continuing rain.

Well, David was right. By 8:00 pm, the rain had stopped, and Derek hurried outside to quickly get everything organized and set up. By 9:00 pm, there was actually some blue skies, and they towed the now almost prepared floating dock out into the lake for Derek to complete final preparations.

At precisely 10:00 pm, under a beautiful darkening blue sky, Derek set off an amazing 20 minute firework show. Everyone agreed that it was his best show ever, and David's optimism proved as accurate as the weather forecast.

Ready to go - rain stopped

Serious Weather

I discovered that Kansas does weather really big time. Should have known, after all, this is where Dorothy started off from when she took a tornado to Oz.

Before we left the ship. I saw a weather clip about a storm front moving through the Kansas area, but at the time I was more concerned about the weather in Ft Lauderdale. I did check the temperature in Kansas however, and it was supposed to be 90F on Thursday when we arrived. Wow, that was the temperature in Panama.

Before the Storm

Friday morning I was off to the track with sunshine and HOT temperatures again close to 90F. T-shirt and shorts weather, but as the day progressed I started hearing about the expected storm. It was supposed to be extreme and there were multiple warnings issued for the area. I was staying at the track for the evening ARCA night race, and as the sun went down and the track lights came on, I could see the darkening skies on the far horizon. I had been speaking to another fan sitting behind me who was from the area, so I asked him about the approaching storm. He got out his phone, and calling up a weather app, he showed me pictures of the storm. I was concerned that we might lose the race tomorrow, but he said this was not a problem; the storm would be a wild one, but would come through overnight and be gone by morning.

By the time the evening's race was over, you could see the black skies to the west and as I started walking out of the track the lightning was providing a vivid light show. I called the hotel shuttle and joined the crowd of people waiting for a ride at the road outside the track. The majority of people were taking a track tram to the various campgrounds around the track, but there were also five or six hotel shuttles coming and going.

My shuttle did not arrive in the promised 15 minutes. Those dark clouds were climbing higher into the night skies.

Fifteen minutes later, the crowd was mostly dispersed, and the sky was half dark with black clouds and the lightning was getting much wilder. The sky to the west was constantly lit up with flashes.

As the lightning got closer and closer, the police came and advised the three girls directing traffic to get into their vehicles instead of standing on the road. I was starting to get worried, so I asked one of them to call again for my shuttle. She was told it would be a while, because the driver was stuck in traffic. This was not looking good. The skies were completely black right overhead, and the violent lightning was all around. I could see the black skies clearly with the wild light show provided by the lightning. I looked around, trying to recall my limited experience with lightning, am I better to be out in the open hoping the lightning is attracted to the light poles and the elevated speedway structure close by? The tent providing shelter for folks waiting for the trams was held up my metal poles. If I went under the tent would the lightning hit the poles and be directed to the ground through them rather than me?

Welcome to Kansas Weather!

Then the rain started; hard pouring rain. Ok, I decided to take a chance under the tent.

Fortunately, my shuttle arrived soon after and I survived the storm, but back at the hotel it was only minutes later when the storm hit hard with lightning and torrential rain for hours, but by then I was safely relaxing in a nice hot whirlpool bath, watching the light show out the window.

My friendly fellow race fan was correct, and the following morning day dawned bright and sunny. BUT gone was the nice 90F temperatures; it was down to 50F. A 40 degree drop in temperature, welcome to Kansas!

The Rain in Spain

Ok, yes, I admit it, this blog is nothing more than an excuse to brag about how nice it is here compared to back home in Canada. . . . . I can't help it.

I love Nova Scotia, but I don't particularly like waiting through the dreary spring for the summer to arrive. At least I don't live in BC where I have heard it rains from February until May. I therefore try to find some place to go where the weather is better for a while. This year I decided to try Spain; specifically El Campello, a little town about half way down the Spanish Mediterranean coast between Valencia and Alicante.

Our Spanish vacation didn't start so great with a cold rain in Madrid that forced us to retreat to our hotel from an attempt to explore Madrid, but the following day we took the train to El Campello and arrived to a lovely sunny day. I opened the doors to the balcony and comfortably sat outside with a glass of wine.

We have had a day with rain, and a couple of days that were cloudy, but we have just had to endure five straight days of sunshine without a cloud in the sky and temperatures of 18C – 22C. I thought I'd just tell you a bit about what the days are like here in Spain.

The sun has some heat, and it is actually warm in the sun, but the evenings are cool, and the buildings here are not really built for the cool evenings. I have learned to close the doors to the balcony at about four even though the sun is still shining. The wind blows quite strong, and so it cools off if the sun is not shining in the apartment. The balcony on the apartment is very well designed for this time of year. The sun comes over the top of the building across the street at about 10:00, just as I'm returning from my first walk down the beach to the pastry shop for something to go with my second cup of coffee, and it shines on the balcony until 4:00 pm. You can sit outside all day, comfortable in shorts. Lunch on the balcony has become one of our daily routines – local wine, chorizo, fresh vegetables and leftovers from last night.

Most days, we walk down the beach or the boardwalk, and see what is going on a couple of times. In the morning we go to see what the Digger (Thanks to Liam for that word) is doing down at the end of the beach, and stop at the bakery on the way back for a pastry to go with my coffee. I am trying to paint something or sketch something every couple of days, so that is another walk down the beach, and we normally need something from the market, but there are five or six within a ten minute walk. I might if I am energetic go out for another walk with my camera to take pictures of something. Then as the sun goes down we take another walk down the beach to watch the sun set and see what progress the “Digger” (actually a dredger working off the beach digging a trench?) has made during the day. You need a jacket for the evening walk, but certainly not the puffy winter parka's still worn by the natives. The trees lining the main street are in brilliant pink blooms, and the palm trees down the beach are filling out, preparing to shelter the sun-shy from the coming summer season.

I just checked the weather on my computer while at the tavern at the corner and we might get another day of rain next week, but then the rain forecast for this week never arrived. I don't bother checking what it is like back in Nova Scotia because it will only remind me that I have to return in a couple of weeks.