Tuesday Musings.

Summer sure is bossy ... it keeps kicking Fall to the curb.

The weather has been wacky, yet I have managed to get a walk in every day, despite all the rain and fog. Saturday we had five torrential rain storms. Sunday morning it poured, but, like Saturday, I went out mid-day. Yesterday morning it was foggy. When I went out this morning, it was 70 degrees and really humid. I wore shorts and a tee-shirt on the 9th of October! The madness continues because we ended up at 86 degrees today, which tied the 1949 record. Tomorrow is our last Summer-like day, as Fall returns with a vengeance on Thursday, and we are told this time it is here to stay.

I have been walking in the neighborhood lately due to the unsettled weather, but I’m going back to my old stomping grounds tomorrow.

A friend of mine posted a picture of a Woolly Bear caterpillar on Facebook a few days ago.

I saved Leslie’s picture, knowing I’d eventually do a post on this little critter. If you’re up on your folklore, you know that the caterpillar of the Isabella Tiger Moth, a/k/a the Woolly Bear Caterpillar, is a good means of gauging the upcoming Winter. When examining this caterpillar’s fuzzy body, if you see more brown segments than black segments, it is a bellwether for a mild Winter. Here is an article from The Old Farmer’s Almanac to read more fun facts:

So, I analyzed this photo of the Woolly Bear caterpillar ... hmm, its segments look about equal to me. Our local meteorologists are predicting an El Nino Winter, or mild Winter for us for 2018-2019. I’m ecstatic if that is correct, as last year’s Winter season was horrible.

I never saw a Woolly Bear caterpillar in 2017. The last glimpse of one was four years ago at Council Point Park. I watched it inching across the perimeter path, and, since I was familiar with the legend of the Woolly Bear Caterpillar, I bent down to take a picture of it and to count its rings. Another walker happened by and asked me what I was doing, so I explained. This would be my friend Ann Marie whom I met for the first time at the Park that day. I looked back at that blog post and the caterpillar’s rings look similar to this one, and unfortunately that Winter season we had the second of the back-to-back Polar Vortexes.

So, do we give this caterpillar a quick glance, willing ourselves to see an abundance of brown bands circling its body just to make us happy? Maybe we ought to only rely on the scientific data by the meteorologists? Sadly, whatever Winter weather is in store for us, ultimately we will just have to grin and bear it. After a year of abnormal weather, where all four seasons in 2018 were not only a disappointment to me, but to most others around the world, I’ll keep my fingers crossed for the best. As of today, I’ve walked 876 miles and have 175 more miles to go to meet my goal.

You can catch up on my blog posts before I started blogging at Patch in August 2013 by going here: http://lindaschaubblog.net/