Week 19

Last night I started thinking about how I am going to deal with the monotony of the weather which is often an issue in Missouri.  When I started this project it was during a dramatic seasonal change but that is the exception rather than the rule with the weather here.  After awhile even I get tired of my own complaining. So, with that in mind I will focus on the positive side of things in future postings while keeping the option open for the occasional kvetching.

We live in a wonderful world full of wonderful things.  Out of all the things that we, humans, have contributed there are two things that stand out in my mind:  institutions of higher learning and libraries.  Those two innovations make up for a lot of sins and mischief that we have otherwise perpetrated on ourself as well as the earth.  So, it is a double privilege to be involved intimately with an institution of higher learning on a professional level, and to be able to experience the campus where I work in all kinds of weather.  Visiting a college campus always infuses me with a sense of hope if only I remember to notice! Sometimes I forget to pay attention to that.

This past week while attending a funeral the snow was coming down.  In that utterly sad occasion the snow provided a poetic backdrop as the falling flakes forced me to look up into heaven. In a word it was beautiful despite the sadness of the occasion.  The change and variation we have in weather here is a blessing.  Lets count it as such.

Here is the picture for this week:

Week 18

Weird weather.  Lots of snow flurries, even continuing up until today, for about a week.  I do not recall ever having that kind of continuous light snow for so many consecutive days.  This week we had some snow and briefly some VERY slick driving conditions.

Students are weary of winter and it is good that we have about two weeks left until March.

I managed to take this picture on time and on the right day. This time I used a bit of a different angle and  you can see the flags which are blowing in an easterly direction.  That seems to be the prevailing wind for most days since I started this project.  Will it shift as we move through spring, then summer, and then fall which is when I started this project?  I am looking forward to finding out.

I like this picture.  It is a bit haunting with those well defined shadows and for some reason the word that comes to mind when viewing this picture of the front campus is "stately."

Week 17

First of all this picture is a day late and an hour early - I took it on Thursday at 2 p.m.  I was not able to locate the camera on time Wednesday morning and had to go out the door without it.

The picture for this week has two unique features.  People and the flag!  Usually the Columbia College flag is at the left side of the picture, just out of sight, and the wind is blowing in a direction so that we cannot see it.  This week the wind was blowing the flag so that it is visible in the picture.  I did not notice it until after I got home and prepared to upload it.  If you look at the other pictures you can see the base of the flag pole in the lower left hand corner, but never the flag itself.  I will have to consult the prevailing wind for Columbia but no doubt it is not ordinarily one that is in a westerly direction.  Also there are people in the shot! For the first time in 17 weeks there are people outside involved in some kind of science activity.  So that is another pleasant change. Two firsts in one week and strange that it took so long for them to show up.

As I finish this it is snowing.  A determined snow that will probably bring some accumulation.  However, this week has otherwise been exactly as depicted in this picture with very little variation in temperature.  Cold and gray with some days a little warmer than others but still with that overcast sky.  Cheerless.

Week 16

At this point the days are, thankfully, getting a bit longer but winter fatigue has definitely arrived.  Each year there is a day when I get up and know that I am now tired of winter.  That day for me this year was this Monday.  Low energy with me and with the students and I now have a cold.  Not enough to sideline me but just enough to wear me down and take off the edge.  Hannah is also sick and worn out and that happens to her every winter too.

So, without further ado her is the sixteenth picture in the series.  The weather?   Dirty gray gold and bleak.

Week 15

How opposite can two weeks be?  Last week was cold and snowy and this week it warmed  up and the snow melted.  There was a lot of rain though.

At this point the semester at school is into the second week of the spring semester and indeed there is a feeling, or perhaps an anticipation, of spring coming.

I changed the aspect ratio on the camera for another situation and forgot it would give a different look for this project.

Week 14

This time I got the shot on time and on the right day.  It helps to be back in school so I can leave my last class at around 2:50 p.m., get my stuff, and stand outside on the front entry and take the picture on my way back to the van.

Last week was brutally cold after the snowfall.  This week things have warmed up and as you can see the snow has started to melt.  Unless it snows again most of the snow seen in this picture will be gone next week.

Week 13

Wednesday when I should have been taking this picture I was about an hour away from Columbia heading back from St. Louis where I had gone in to pick up Lior and Sivan.  Heading west we literally drove into the snowstorm and it started getting real bad right after Montgomery City.  We made it home but traffic was very much backed up and we passed a good many accidents.

So, I went out today to get his shot hoping that the roads would be reasonably clear.  They were.  As you can see there is much more snow on the ground this week than there was last week.  It is also much much colder.