Planning to fly soon, don't read this.

On one of the 3000 cable channels there is a show called air disasters.  That is not something you want to watch if you fly.  I guess the public's eye for this kind of stuff is daily reflected when we slow down on the highway to gawk at a car wreck.

For flights don't look at this.

Airport delays

JFK, Atlanta, Waco?  Yep most airports have experienced some significant delay or closure.  Most are related to weather conditions, but occasionally there are other problems (Atlanta).  Sometimes the delay is felt at other airports, several legs down your trip. One time we were flying to San Juan Puerto Rico, had to wait to get there and after arrival, were told Hartford was closed.  Spent the night in the airport hotel.  And how many times have I spent a night in Miami since Hartford was closed due to bad weather.

The most harrowing experience in airports for me was in 1989.  I was flying from College Station, Texas to St Louis.  Severe thunderstorms closed College Station, but I got a ride on a plane flying to Waco where I had a chance to catch a flight to Dallas/Fort Worth and then St. Louis.  That flight was crazy.  We flew over and around a cumulonimbus cloud to get to Waco; like riding in a roller coaster. Since it was an unscheduled flight, had we crashed, they would have to check my dental records to id me!

Long story short, we made it to Waco, only to have that airport closed due to the same storm.  I caught a ride with a fellow traveler to Dallas where he had important business, I caught my flight to St. Louis that had been delayed 9 hours, drove back to Carbondale and went to work on time.  No sleep mind you!

Whew.

To see the current air traffic, click here.

Winter Hiking

Get out the snowshoes, maybe the skis and if not deep, just hike!

Here is a winter hike I took recently to see the Keystone Arch Bridges in Massachusetts.

Looking out the airplane window

I like to look out the airplane windows.  It is fascinating to see the earth from about.  And just like Google Earth, it is really cool to explore the planet. 

I try to figure out my root and after taking pictures and/or video, I will retrace the route on Google Earth to try to identify what I observed.

50 deg 23 min North, 61 deg 27 min West.

Check out this landmark in Canada that I "discovered" flying back from the UK.

Eclipse 2017

This past summer we enjoyed a rare total eclipse in the US.  Carbondale was one place where people could observe the event (although ended up being a bit cloudy). But in any case, I reported on the astronomical event here.

I also attempted an amateur video taping with a digital camera and a pair of glasses.  There are better videos out there, but this one is short.

The next one is in 2024 and will pass through Carbondale again!

I want to go ....

Skiing?  or what about swimming?  In either case, we can get a rough estimate of future conditions for the states at this link.  For New England it appears likely to be warmer (except one month out). 
But tomorrow is another story with winds and temps below zero!

Brrrr.

oh yeah, one more r.

Snow fun

Expecting a bit of snow tomorrow, so the 3 inches we got last year (xmas) will get a topping and make for some good cross country skiing.  After the snow, we are expecting another arctic blast with single digits and below zero's at night.

Some great weather trivia for today (3 January) is found here.  So if you have  a hard time striking up a conversation while waiting in the express lane at the grocery, you can always say...

On this date in "1777...An overnight freeze enabled George Washington and his troops to flank the British at Trenton, cross their lines at Princeton, and seek security in the hills of northern New Jersey."