...and now, 10 mins after this photo was taken, it's the same again, like nothing had ever happened!
What strange weather we're having this week!
Showing posts with label weather. Show all posts
Showing posts with label weather. Show all posts
a mini blizzard
Only 20 minutes before this photo was taken the sun was streaming through my studio window and the sky was a beautiful shade of blue...
...and now, 10 mins after this photo was taken, it's the same again, like nothing had ever happened!
...and now, 10 mins after this photo was taken, it's the same again, like nothing had ever happened!
Fresh Meat : Day 1
Having had bronchitis for a couple of weeks - and therefore not being able to go and play in all the snow we had last week - can you imagine my excitement at waking up to a mini blizzard on the one day I had given myself permission to leave the house: my first Fresh Meat session!
WalthamSNOW looked amazingly pretty as I prepared to head out on the trek up to Hertfordshire for training. There were some concerns early on in the morning that the leisure centre where practice was would be closed, since they were experiencing much more snow than we had down here, but it was finally decided to go ahead as planned, wooooo!
Our train took us up through North London and into Hertfordshire in super speedy time, but as we alighted I had slight concerns... there was A LOT more snow here than at home, and the venue was still a 30 minute walk away. A minor blizzard whipped against us as we trudged through the snow to our destination, and by the time we got there we were soaked through *note to self - always bring spare socks in future!
The trek was worth it though, I warmed up in no time and after a quick introduction and warm-up game it was time to skate-up and get rolling. Knee stops were first on the agenda, which was fine with me - I'd been practising them at home (as best as you can on carpet), so I knew the gist. They were probably the most successful part of the day for me, in slightly dejected honesty.
We attempted plough stops, but my god I just couldn't get them. I could do the initial motion, but the strength just wasn't there so I couldn't get the hang of actually stopping myself. I kept hearing, "get lower! No, even lower!" being directed at me from some of the skaters, but I just felt like I was totally losing my balance and that made me stiffen up like a crazy nervous fool. On one attempt I practically did the splits on my skates. That hurt. I apologised for being a doofus to Kato, the skater who was helping instruct me, and was subsequently told off by the coach for saying sorry: "unless you've been a complete jerk, there is no such thing as sorry in derby" I was told. Noted.
To end the session we played a couple of relay races - incorporating our new skating skills (*ahem* not) and our stops. Instead of shying away like I always used to do during school sports sessions, I threw myself into it. I certainly wasn't the fastest and I wasn't at all confident in the motion bits of it, especially with everyone watching, but my stops were good and controlled. Now I just need to get better at the whole propulsion part, preferably before next weekend.
Walking back through the snow nearly destroyed me. I hadn't needed to take my inhaler all day, but that walk back to the station through the now much deeper snow and bitter cold wind, after hours of skating, was enough to turn me into a full blown spluttering/semi-breathing mess. Our train was running 20 mins late, which at least gave me a bit of a chance to breathe deeply, rest my weary legs and eat some much-deserved chocolate.
Highlights of the Day:
*the skaters were all lovely, super helpful and mega encouraging, even when I was rubbish
*the rest of the Fresh Meat were lovely too, and really supportive of each other
*I made sure to speak to everybody, which for a shy bear like me was quite an achievement
*the venue, apart from being sooooo far away, is nice and big and cosy
*it may have been exhausting, but I was super full of adrenaline and gusto by the end of it
*I'm not nervous for the rest of the course now that I've got over the first hurdle - in fact I can't wait for the next session!
WalthamSNOW looked amazingly pretty as I prepared to head out on the trek up to Hertfordshire for training. There were some concerns early on in the morning that the leisure centre where practice was would be closed, since they were experiencing much more snow than we had down here, but it was finally decided to go ahead as planned, wooooo!
♥ bottom photo by Jekyll N Slyde of Hell's Belles RollerGirls ♥
Our train took us up through North London and into Hertfordshire in super speedy time, but as we alighted I had slight concerns... there was A LOT more snow here than at home, and the venue was still a 30 minute walk away. A minor blizzard whipped against us as we trudged through the snow to our destination, and by the time we got there we were soaked through *note to self - always bring spare socks in future!
The trek was worth it though, I warmed up in no time and after a quick introduction and warm-up game it was time to skate-up and get rolling. Knee stops were first on the agenda, which was fine with me - I'd been practising them at home (as best as you can on carpet), so I knew the gist. They were probably the most successful part of the day for me, in slightly dejected honesty.
We attempted plough stops, but my god I just couldn't get them. I could do the initial motion, but the strength just wasn't there so I couldn't get the hang of actually stopping myself. I kept hearing, "get lower! No, even lower!" being directed at me from some of the skaters, but I just felt like I was totally losing my balance and that made me stiffen up like a crazy nervous fool. On one attempt I practically did the splits on my skates. That hurt. I apologised for being a doofus to Kato, the skater who was helping instruct me, and was subsequently told off by the coach for saying sorry: "unless you've been a complete jerk, there is no such thing as sorry in derby" I was told. Noted.
To end the session we played a couple of relay races - incorporating our new skating skills (*ahem* not) and our stops. Instead of shying away like I always used to do during school sports sessions, I threw myself into it. I certainly wasn't the fastest and I wasn't at all confident in the motion bits of it, especially with everyone watching, but my stops were good and controlled. Now I just need to get better at the whole propulsion part, preferably before next weekend.
Walking back through the snow nearly destroyed me. I hadn't needed to take my inhaler all day, but that walk back to the station through the now much deeper snow and bitter cold wind, after hours of skating, was enough to turn me into a full blown spluttering/semi-breathing mess. Our train was running 20 mins late, which at least gave me a bit of a chance to breathe deeply, rest my weary legs and eat some much-deserved chocolate.
Highlights of the Day:
*the skaters were all lovely, super helpful and mega encouraging, even when I was rubbish
*the rest of the Fresh Meat were lovely too, and really supportive of each other
*I made sure to speak to everybody, which for a shy bear like me was quite an achievement
*the venue, apart from being sooooo far away, is nice and big and cosy
*it may have been exhausting, but I was super full of adrenaline and gusto by the end of it
*I'm not nervous for the rest of the course now that I've got over the first hurdle - in fact I can't wait for the next session!
Woo, derby!
happy Ilyap'a day!
Ilyap'a is one of my favourite weather-related gods, along with Quetzalcoatl's twin brother Xolotl, the jackal-ish Egyptian god of storms, Set, and everyone's favourite thunder god, Thor.
I've never been as interested in Incan deities as perhaps I should be, considering I love whole groups of other Central and South American deities, but Ilyap'a is an exception . He was said to keep the Milky Way in a jug and used it to create rain.
If that's not a good enough excuse to celebrate his feast day, I don't know what is!
So, without further ado:
I've never been as interested in Incan deities as perhaps I should be, considering I love whole groups of other Central and South American deities, but Ilyap'a is an exception . He was said to keep the Milky Way in a jug and used it to create rain.
If that's not a good enough excuse to celebrate his feast day, I don't know what is!
So, without further ado:
suffering from weather-induced headaches
The other morning I woke at dawn to excrutiating head pain.
The best way to describe it would be to say that my brain felt like a bell being struck by a tiny hammer or tiny lightning bolts, and perhaps that was what I should have said when I phoned in sick to work, but what I actually said was something along the lines of "I can't come in today, my brain feels like it's being squeezed and it hurtssssssss".
Not the most articulate of expressions, though I guess at 6:24am and while afflicted with squeezy brain pain it's just not that easy to describe the odd functioning of ones brain, let alone to give the actual explanation without sounding completely mad:
On my self certification form, as my reason for absence I wrote that I had had "excrutiating head pain caused by changes in barometric pressure". The office manager glared at me as I handed it over, and I wanted to explain how it felt using my bell analogy, but the look on her face was enough to warn me against doing so.
I've written before about how the weather affects me, but this weird air pressure thing is different from what I was describing last time, this is actual pain caused by the pressure of the air, rather than just something psychological.
It's hard to describe the feeling of pressure inside my head during one of these attacks, but this illustration does a pretty good job...
While researching what exactly was going on in my head, I found out about a study that took place in 1981 which found that the number of migraines and headaches people were suffering from increased during certain types of weather: low pressure, warm fronts, high temperatures, humidity and overcast skies. These types of headaches are known as barometric pressure headaches.
Barometric pressure is simply the pressure of the air, which can be affected by a whole bunch of different atmospheric changes and movements of weather fronts. When the weather changes suddenly, or the pressure in the air suddenly falls, it can cause the blood vessels in your brain to become inflamed and irritated, and it's this which causes the insane pain.
Sometimes barometric pressure-type headaches are known as 'altitude headaches' named so because the higher up you are, the lower the air pressure, and it's this fall in air pressure which most often causes the headaches. It's not a completely accurate description, since most people who are afflicted get these headaches no matter how high up they may be, but it's a pretty good way of explaining it for people who've not experienced them.
From my own experience it's the weather just before a storm is due that is the most significant trigger - I start to feel light-headed and dizzy and my head starts pounding. No amount of over-the-counter medication can make it go away and I just have to lock myself away and try to sleep through it when it gets that bad. As soon as the storm is over I always feel better, and it's this feeling of relief after a storm which has led people to believe that the heightened electrical charge in the air may also have play a part in causing these types of headaches.
Many people claim to be able to tell when certain types of weather are due from the feelings in their bones or "in their waters", and it seems that I can do so through the pain in my head. I think I'd rather have either of the other two options - it sounds a lot less painful!
The best way to describe it would be to say that my brain felt like a bell being struck by a tiny hammer or tiny lightning bolts, and perhaps that was what I should have said when I phoned in sick to work, but what I actually said was something along the lines of "I can't come in today, my brain feels like it's being squeezed and it hurtssssssss".
Not the most articulate of expressions, though I guess at 6:24am and while afflicted with squeezy brain pain it's just not that easy to describe the odd functioning of ones brain, let alone to give the actual explanation without sounding completely mad:
that the pain you are experiencing is caused by the weather.
On my self certification form, as my reason for absence I wrote that I had had "excrutiating head pain caused by changes in barometric pressure". The office manager glared at me as I handed it over, and I wanted to explain how it felt using my bell analogy, but the look on her face was enough to warn me against doing so.
I've written before about how the weather affects me, but this weird air pressure thing is different from what I was describing last time, this is actual pain caused by the pressure of the air, rather than just something psychological.
It's hard to describe the feeling of pressure inside my head during one of these attacks, but this illustration does a pretty good job...
While researching what exactly was going on in my head, I found out about a study that took place in 1981 which found that the number of migraines and headaches people were suffering from increased during certain types of weather: low pressure, warm fronts, high temperatures, humidity and overcast skies. These types of headaches are known as barometric pressure headaches.
Barometric pressure is simply the pressure of the air, which can be affected by a whole bunch of different atmospheric changes and movements of weather fronts. When the weather changes suddenly, or the pressure in the air suddenly falls, it can cause the blood vessels in your brain to become inflamed and irritated, and it's this which causes the insane pain.
Sometimes barometric pressure-type headaches are known as 'altitude headaches' named so because the higher up you are, the lower the air pressure, and it's this fall in air pressure which most often causes the headaches. It's not a completely accurate description, since most people who are afflicted get these headaches no matter how high up they may be, but it's a pretty good way of explaining it for people who've not experienced them.
From my own experience it's the weather just before a storm is due that is the most significant trigger - I start to feel light-headed and dizzy and my head starts pounding. No amount of over-the-counter medication can make it go away and I just have to lock myself away and try to sleep through it when it gets that bad. As soon as the storm is over I always feel better, and it's this feeling of relief after a storm which has led people to believe that the heightened electrical charge in the air may also have play a part in causing these types of headaches.
Many people claim to be able to tell when certain types of weather are due from the feelings in their bones or "in their waters", and it seems that I can do so through the pain in my head. I think I'd rather have either of the other two options - it sounds a lot less painful!
Do the changes in the weather affect any of you?
Can you sense when a storm is due?
written in the stars
Now the clocks have gone back and it's getting much darker much earlier, I was kinda hoping it would mean I'd have more of a chance to gaze at the stars, but sadly not.
All that blooming British cloud and London smog is putting a damper* on things :(
These pretties will have to do for now...
*I always thought the word was 'dampener' but the internet doesn't agree with me -
what do you think? Damper or dampener?
what do you think? Damper or dampener?
a wardrobe escapade
Much as it hasn't seemed like it over the last couple of weeks (we have had a mini heatwave here in London, 29 degrees in October! Unheard of!) it'll be getting colder soon, and that can mean only one thing...
I've seen many blarticles about these autumnal accessories, but have heard and seen the darling cape referred to as a great many things: cloak, capelet, shrug, wrap, poncho even! And what the bejeezus is a SCAPE?
I think we need to get this straightened out... and what better way than by playing everyone's favourite garment-spotting game, "Am I A Cape?"!
Now, as fabulous as all of these garments are, they are certainly not capes! And what this girl wants for the coming British Winter is a good old-fashioned cape. But not an old-old-fashioned one... a modern-old-fashioned one. Yes.
IT'S CAPE TIME!
I've seen many blarticles about these autumnal accessories, but have heard and seen the darling cape referred to as a great many things: cloak, capelet, shrug, wrap, poncho even! And what the bejeezus is a SCAPE?
I think we need to get this straightened out... and what better way than by playing everyone's favourite garment-spotting game, "Am I A Cape?"!
Now, as fabulous as all of these garments are, they are certainly not capes! And what this girl wants for the coming British Winter is a good old-fashioned cape. But not an old-old-fashioned one... a modern-old-fashioned one. Yes.
Let's see what goodies we can find - it's time for a wardrobe esCAPadE!
{a cape parade, yay!}
Are you planning on getting a cape? Do you already have a cape? Do you hate capes?
(that last one was a trick question - no one hates capes!)
the view from my studio
Here I am sitting at my desk, thinking about shoe clips, and all of a sudden it started lashing down with rain. I know I shouldn't be surprised, this being England after all, but it's always a bit weird when it's bright outside but raining, and this was proper rain. It scared the heck out of poor Yoyo, who doesn't like rain at the best of times. I don't think you can see how bright it is, or how much rain there is, but try to imagine...
double rainbow
The other day there was a double rainbow outside my studio - I don't remember seeing one before in real life so I got quite excited and took lots of pictures. It was a bit of an odd phenomenon - it was really cloudy but with just one really bright bit of sunlight hitting the roofs of the houses outside my window, and then it suddenly started raining but was over again in no time, and then there were the rainbows.
Naturally, this inspired me to make a pretty treasury, full of lots of rainbowy things.
what a way to brighten up your day!
Christmas in July
OK, so I know it's only July. And I know there are still 149 days to go until Christmas... but today I embarked on a splendid Christmas shopping expedition with my friend Claire.
image from blahblahbecky.co.uk
Selfridges opened their famous Christmas Shop this morning, and you know I can't resist a bit of it. We arrived in the early afternoon and there was almost no one there, but we couldn’t contain our excitement in the prospect of Christmassy goodness. The section was much smaller than it was last year, and they had decided to go with a white theme, rather than the traditional red, gold and green. There were still touches of colour, but it was largely white – a little ambitiously, I feel, since we only average a White Christmas in the
image from blahblahbecky.co.uk
It was nice, if a little surreal, to wander among the trees adorned with glittering icicles, sparkling snowflakes, shining white baubles and (oddly) Siamese cat ornaments. After much perusing, we decided that although the displays were beautiful and ever so Narnia-esque, there wasn’t really anything that would “go” in either our houses – and it seemed a little foolish just to buy something for the sake of it. Feeling rather proud that we had resisted temptation (in the Christmas Shop of all places!), we treated ourselves to a cream tea at Dolly’s café. Nyom nyom nyom, say I.
Every year, the British media goes a bit mad with their reporting of Christmas shopping getting earlier every year, and it being too commercial and fake these days, not like in the olden days etc. and the British public, often in agreement, always have something to say about it too:
“The magic has gone, this is obviously capitalism at his worst” - says ‘Stealth’ from
“There should be a law to stop traders marketing Xmas before 1st Dec.
“I used to enjoy Christmas but now it just seems to be an excuse for everybody that can to make money” - says 'Peter'
and my absolute favourite…
“How many of you realisticaly [sic] head to Harrods or Selfridges to do Christmas shopping anyway. Perhaps those that can afford to should be shot.” - thanks 'Richard'
Finally, a sensible woman with a sensible point:
How do you feel about early Christmas shopping? Have any of you started already?
après l'orage
I was unable to sleep last night, in anticipation of the imminent storm, which finally blustered in at about 4am.
Yoyo and I lay together transfixed under the corrugated plastic roof of my studio watching the heavy puce clouds transform into a clear periwinkle blue. After the rain had finished laundering the sky, I felt immediately more settled and calm and was finally able to get some sleep.
I feel refreshed and rejuvenated and a lot more content this morning, and I'm glad the blue skies have returned.
It's amazing what a good storm can do to the soul!
Yoyo and I lay together transfixed under the corrugated plastic roof of my studio watching the heavy puce clouds transform into a clear periwinkle blue. After the rain had finished laundering the sky, I felt immediately more settled and calm and was finally able to get some sleep.
I feel refreshed and rejuvenated and a lot more content this morning, and I'm glad the blue skies have returned.
It's amazing what a good storm can do to the soul!
you always take the weather with you
I have been feeling somewhat melancholy and grumpy over the last few days. I don't want to sound too British, but I do feel the weather might have played a part in this.
While studying English Literature at college we were taught about pathetic fallacy, and how inanimate objects or naturally-occurring events can be described as having human qualities, a bit like personification. Pathetic fallacy could be used to describe an angry sea or a sleeping moon, but the main subject of pathetic fallacy that I recall, from the, admittedly, limited poetry that we studied, was weather-related, and now I can't help but think of those lessons every time it rains or it feels like a storm is brewing. It's often thought that storms denote anger, though I'm not sure if that is a natural unconscious human feeling or a response to some learned beliefs and myths...
It's an ancient belief in many cultures that thunder, lightning and storms are a product of gods' anger, so it's no wonder stormy weather makes some people feel uneasy or emotionally unsettled when this notion has possibly been ingrained in us for millennia. I'm not particularly religious, and I don't believe that storms are caused by gods, but before a scientific explanation was provided for the occurrence of thunder and lightning, I imagine they were one of the scariest experiences ever - it's no wonder people felt as though they were being punished for something. It makes sense for humans to be instinctively fearful of storms and lightning as they may well be dangerous - but with no explanation as to why they were happening, I probably would have felt as though it was being caused by someone/something angry too.
There are dozens of gods who are associated with thunder, but the most famous is probably Thor, the hammer-wielding Norse god. Thor was popular during the pagan Viking Age, and is generally thought of as being strong, fierce and angry, just like a personification of thunder, which the name 'Thor' literally translates as in old Germanic. As well as Thor, there is the Greek king of the gods, who was also god of the sky and thunder, Zeus, and his Roman equivalent, Jupiter, whose name translates as sky-father, and who later also became the god of war; in Hindu mythology Indra is the god of storms, rainfall and war, and is described as being mischievous, courageous and strong; in Ancient Egyptian religions, Set was the god of storms, darkness and chaos; and finally (though there are many more), Xolotl was the Aztec god of lightning, death and fire.
It's hardly surprising that the gods of thunder and lightning were so similar in all of these cultures - unexplainable storms would certainly have evoked a frightening sense of otherwordly fury in the people witnessing them, and to believe that storms indicated the powerful gods were angry must have been utterly terrifying. Add to that the fact that most of the gods associated with storms were also associated with war, death or chaos, and it's no wonder they were the most feared of all the gods. It's also no wonder storms can still cause such stirrings and emotional turbulence, when considering both the unconscious and the acquired beliefs.
Going back to the idea of pathetic fallacy - part of the reason it was, and still is, so well-used in both poetry and prose might be that the act of giving human traits to something difficult to explain, like extremes in weather, is a very simplistic and often reassuring way of trying to understand the world. The idea that the manifestation of thunder and lightning insinuated that the gods were angry would have struck fear into anyone who may be feeling guilty or unforgiving or jealous, and would probably have caused people to repent simply out of fear of punishment, whereas using pathetic fallacy to personify the storm would make the prospect seem far less frightening, as the storm would be given human traits rather than godly ones, making it (slightly) easier to understand and seemingly more empathic. That, however, doesn't mean it's any less likely to cause that pre-storm feeling that some people, including me, tend to get in anticipation of an overdue storm.
As I have been writing this I have longed for a storm to start (it has felt all day as though one was coming), but sadly I have been denied that ironic pleasure. How appropriate though that I am writing this on Thor's Day, and I have only just realised!
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