Wednesday, February 19, 2014

Back in the ring

Coming out of the gray haze and spasmodic coughing of bronchitis ( That sounds so much more impressive than chest cold ), I notice everything I missed for the last five days and mainly

 that the skies are clearing !!





  


Not only that but my Daffodils are blooming and the Mimosa tree next door is in full glory on one side of the wall while the orange tree on the other side invites us to a crop of sweet juice oranges.  

It was Mozzi, I believe, that cured me with kitty energy.  He sat at the foot of my sick bed and purred.  Thank you Mozzi and Monsieur , you too, for putting me back on my feet.   

Saturday, February 15, 2014

Don't rain on my parade




Well, since you asked…."no, this weather is not normal! "

 The winter is not over yet but this year we have already reached the wettest winter since recording was begun by Meteo France in 1980. 

To show you just how much not normal , we are getting 5 times more rain in the south of France than Paris and our temperatures are 2 degrees above the seasonal average. 


 So While Paris has 102 mm so far, we have had five times that.  Our total last year was 505 mm but now we are already past 553 mm of precipitation with little storms still coming. 

The worst disaster caused by the rain so far has to be the derailing of  the "train des Pignes" last week.    A huge bolder, the size of a car,  pulled away knocking  several cars of"Le Train des Pignes" over the side of a mountain in the Alps, killing two and injuring seven. 

 Sobering.  We have all been on that train at one time or another!



  I heard from the florist down the street that in Nice when it snows, people pull over to the side of the freeway and when it rains people wait for a sunny day to go out if they have the choice. 

We are spoiled and unprepared for all this rain and that is a fact. 


But the Alps that frame the city look fabulous with their winter whites so the ski stations will do well this year even if the Carnival suffers.  


These are interesting times …that's a fact.