Showing posts with label Weather. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Weather. Show all posts
Thursday, June 14, 2018
Friday, November 28, 2014
A Weather Question
November 2014
We used to figure out the temperature in Ville Platte out by taking the temperatures in Alexandria, and hour north of town, and Lafayette, an hour south, and finding the number that was in the middle of them. I was entertained to hear them talking about this same system on La Tasse this week:
"The weather says it was 32 in Lafayette, 31 in Elek, and 28 in Ville Platte, now can you explain that? Moi j'connais pas mais des fois...tu peux figurer... Elek c'est dans une bassière, ça fait, ça restes plus froid là bas des fois. Mais pour figurer...on prends la température à Lafayette et la température à L'Alexandrie et on va dans le mileu tu connais? On est un peu près halfway entre les deux places..."
We used to figure out the temperature in Ville Platte out by taking the temperatures in Alexandria, and hour north of town, and Lafayette, an hour south, and finding the number that was in the middle of them. I was entertained to hear them talking about this same system on La Tasse this week:
"The weather says it was 32 in Lafayette, 31 in Elek, and 28 in Ville Platte, now can you explain that? Moi j'connais pas mais des fois...tu peux figurer... Elek c'est dans une bassière, ça fait, ça restes plus froid là bas des fois. Mais pour figurer...on prends la température à Lafayette et la température à L'Alexandrie et on va dans le mileu tu connais? On est un peu près halfway entre les deux places..."
| Temp in VP according to this method? 76.5 F ! |
Tuesday, September 16, 2014
Sunday, August 24, 2014
Monday, June 9, 2014
Small Talk about the Vent Nord
Mista Charlie-
Hey!
This is John Pitre from Plaisance.
Allo Mista Pitre!
Comment les affaires à ce matin?
Haaw, 'coute! Les tit' zydecos après profiter dans l'vent nord!
Tit' vent nord, là, il chiffone la robe de Nananne des fois!
_______________________________________
Mista Charlie-
Hey!
This is John Pitre from Plaisance.
Hello Mister Pitre!
How are things this morning?
Aw, listen! The little snap beans are growing in the north wind!
The north wind there, it blows Nananne's skirt up sometimes!
Haaw, 'coute! Les tit' zydecos après profiter dans l'vent nord!
Tit' vent nord, là, il chiffone la robe de Nananne des fois!
_______________________________________
Mista Charlie-
Hey!
This is John Pitre from Plaisance.
Hello Mister Pitre!
How are things this morning?
Aw, listen! The little snap beans are growing in the north wind!
The north wind there, it blows Nananne's skirt up sometimes!
Monday, June 2, 2014
Saturday, September 28, 2013
Rob Perillo is the Balm
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| Rob touches the comet Pan-Starrs without getting burned. |
Rob Perillo is our Chief Weatherman on KATC TV 3 in Lafayette, Louisiana. People around here really love to know about the weather. They live close to the land, and Rob is always a reliable, even jovial source of weather news and lore. Not only that, Rob always has some trivia or something creative to say and tells you about comets, meteors, blue moons, hurricanes, local folklore, as well as the exact time and direction of the passing of the space shuttle at night. Sometimes I hear these little quips and put them out on my Prairie Femme Twitter account...and I usually tag +Rob Perillo, too, or otherwise troll him on his social media... so he knows how much we appreciate his wordsmithing and weathermaning!
Like this one time I commented on his status update about his use of the word "balmy", he "liked" it on Facebook (!!), then later on the news, I heard him emphasize the word- "Ladies and Gentlemen it's going to be a BALMY evening..." Just sayin.
I love when it rains and Rob says that it's "good sleeping weather".
"A smokey haze tonight. You can smell the sugarcane burning."
"The fragrance of ligustrum in the air..."
Rob says he's not just going to "overtly forecast fog for tonight." That's why we love you Rob!
Rob says that tonight's lows will be in the "sultry low mid-70s"
I love when Rob says "Let's kick it upstairs and put the radar-satellite composite in motion, baby" (I added the baby, but hey! He might have said it/might say it if he reads this.) (Bonjour Rob!!)
OR he might just say:
"Let's kick it upstairs and look at the radar satellite composite! "
"Nice looking cumulonimbus canopy shrouding Acadiana this afternoon. System already raining itself out...slowly..."
"It's gonna be rough out in the Gulf of Mexico so batten down the hatches!"
"No pipe issues tonight."
"The air IS juicy."
"Cirrus clouds painting pretty pastels..."
Rob Perillo is talking about the crescent moon and Venus in the western sky. #swoon.
@robperillo recommends that you recline on a chaise lounge chair a few minutes before 8 pm in order to see the space shuttle in the western sky.
"Do expect a sultry one tonight."
"A steamy one tonight!"
"A sultry summer night and the mosquitos are certainly in play."
"Don't say Perillo didn't warn you!"
Follow Rob on Twitter
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| People Love Rob! Street Art, Downtown Lafayette |
(Warning: This is where the CajunNet and the Internet collide with results as accurate as Rob's eight day forecast.)
Saturday, June 8, 2013
Samida's Voice
One of the things that I love the most about our South Louisiana culture is the observance of feast days of the saints and holy days in the Church. They are like mini-holidays that mark the mundane weeks and months. I love the lore that they hold, and the way that they connect us to our French past. I especially like to observe the feast day of Saint Medard, June 8. When I started to ask questions to my family about local history, "the Samida", as they called it, was always one of the first things to come up. They said that if it rains on this day, it will rain for forth days. If it is dry, there will be a dry spell for 40 days. I loved how my family called it le Samida (it soudned like Sammy-Da). I also especially loved observing the weather on that day, and since it falls at the beginning of the summer season of humidity and looming afternoon storms, it usually will rain, unless we are in drought. I remember years not too long ago when farmers were praying to the Saint for rain.
With the storms that blow out here on the prairie come the occasion to see les jambes de pluie, the legs of the rain, the local appellation for the streaks that form when falling rain is visible from a distance. I imagine that they were the legs of the Saint, walking across the land, bringing rain with his steps. Today, true to form and seemingly out of the blue, he appeared from the west. I saw les jambes de pluie approach, and, when the storm was upon us, that his legs were actually made of twin lightning strikes. I even heard his voice:
By the time the storm was hot pink and grey on the Prairie des Femmes, the lights had gone out and it was high time for our afternoon coffee. There was gas for a fire but no water pressure. Lucky I had collected rainwater in a basin on the porch, and so I was forced to drink some Saint Medard rainwater coffee milk. Right after that, the rain stopped and in the east appeared a rainbow. I even think I saw Samida smile.
With the storms that blow out here on the prairie come the occasion to see les jambes de pluie, the legs of the rain, the local appellation for the streaks that form when falling rain is visible from a distance. I imagine that they were the legs of the Saint, walking across the land, bringing rain with his steps. Today, true to form and seemingly out of the blue, he appeared from the west. I saw les jambes de pluie approach, and, when the storm was upon us, that his legs were actually made of twin lightning strikes. I even heard his voice:
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| Samida in the west coming across the Prairie des Femmes |
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| Rain arrives from the West in Acadiana on the Feast of Saint Medard |
By the time the storm was hot pink and grey on the Prairie des Femmes, the lights had gone out and it was high time for our afternoon coffee. There was gas for a fire but no water pressure. Lucky I had collected rainwater in a basin on the porch, and so I was forced to drink some Saint Medard rainwater coffee milk. Right after that, the rain stopped and in the east appeared a rainbow. I even think I saw Samida smile.
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| Samida's upside down smile |
Friday, June 7, 2013
Buffy on Saint Medard
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| From Wikimedia Commons |
Alright bonjour qui c'est qui parle?
Hey This here's Buffy.
Yay! Steve Buffy! Go right ahead-
When does the Simeda start? Da eighth or da tenth of June?
I think it's the eighth of June, huh?
...I'm not sure no mo...
...j'crois...comme si il serait le huit de juin qu'est la la fête de Saint Medard. (I think that it'll be the eighth of June that is the feast day of St. Médard)
-Ouais (yeah)
Et là, si ça mouille ce jour là, ça va mouiller pour quarante jours et si ça mouille pas, ça va être sec pour quarante jours, ein? (And if it rains that day, it will rain for forty days and if it doesn't rain, it will be dry for forty days, huh?)
Yep, that's how it goes...
That's how it goes...
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| From KATC TV3 -Acadiana's News Channel |
Sunday, September 2, 2012
Summer of Storms
The summer of 2012 was full of storms. It rained nearly every day for three months. There were storms of all kinds, from every direction, even out of nowhere.
Around here they say that if it rains on the feast day of Saint Medard, the 8th of June, that it will rain for forty days afterwards. This year, it rained a few days before the 8th, on it, and after it for two weeks. Then there was a little two week break, then July came. It rained every day in July except the 31st. There were long rains, afternoon rains that diminished the heat but made the night heavier than ever. In August there were daily downpours and a hurricane. There were other storms, too. All summer, there were navy blue clouds walking on jambes de pluie, fog, and flood across the Prairie. There were were black snakes in the tall grass that never got cut because of the rain and the broken tractor sitting in the rain. So we stayed inside, shut out from the heat and humidity, bugs and snakes. It was so mild last winter that the insects swarmed in the spring and everyone got fleas.
Between the storms and serpents and plagues many gifts fell on the Prairie, comme les bras de soleil. There were lots of birds. A few times on the dirt road I saw the fanned cream and white tail feathers of a marsh hawk swoop next to my car, close enough to touch. There were owls who stood on the road and flew up to a low branch to let me pass, eyes round. There was a big ole great white heron flying in the crepescule of the evening. Many cardinals zipping around the bamboo. One evening, while I was sitting on the porch, a rainbow painted bunting landed next to me and stayed for a minute.
Around here they say that if it rains on the feast day of Saint Medard, the 8th of June, that it will rain for forty days afterwards. This year, it rained a few days before the 8th, on it, and after it for two weeks. Then there was a little two week break, then July came. It rained every day in July except the 31st. There were long rains, afternoon rains that diminished the heat but made the night heavier than ever. In August there were daily downpours and a hurricane. There were other storms, too. All summer, there were navy blue clouds walking on jambes de pluie, fog, and flood across the Prairie. There were were black snakes in the tall grass that never got cut because of the rain and the broken tractor sitting in the rain. So we stayed inside, shut out from the heat and humidity, bugs and snakes. It was so mild last winter that the insects swarmed in the spring and everyone got fleas.
Between the storms and serpents and plagues many gifts fell on the Prairie, comme les bras de soleil. There were lots of birds. A few times on the dirt road I saw the fanned cream and white tail feathers of a marsh hawk swoop next to my car, close enough to touch. There were owls who stood on the road and flew up to a low branch to let me pass, eyes round. There was a big ole great white heron flying in the crepescule of the evening. Many cardinals zipping around the bamboo. One evening, while I was sitting on the porch, a rainbow painted bunting landed next to me and stayed for a minute.
Tuesday, August 28, 2012
O Maris Stella, A Prayer for Hurricane Season
Spare us from past tragedies whose memories are still so vivid and whose wounds seem to refuse to heal with the passing of time.
O Virgin, Star of the Sea, Our Beloved Mother we ask you to plead with your Son in our behalf, so that spared from the calamities common to this area and animated with a true spirit of gratitude, we will walk in the footsteps of your Divine Son to reach the heavenly Jerusalem where a storm-less eternity awaits us.
Amen.
-The Most Reverend Maurice Schexnayder (1895-1981) second Bishop of the Diocese of Lafayette, Louisnana
Saturday, August 25, 2012
Wednesday, August 22, 2012
Les Jambes de Pluie
It was the rainiest summer in a long time, it seems, at least out here in Prairie. It rained before and after (and on in most areas) St. Medard, the 8th of June, and then it rained for more than forty days total afterward, with maybe a two week break in there. There were lots of chances to photograph les jambes de pluie, the legs of the rain.
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| les jambes de pluie marching across the millet fields of the PDF on the eve of St. Médard |
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| jambes on the Opelousas Road |
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| jambes to the southwest |
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| les jambes de pluie sur la plairie |
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| jambes a Whiteville |
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| Jambes à Lanse de Tate |
Tuesday, August 21, 2012
Quand la Corne est dans l'air
J'ai pris ses photos de la lune hier au soir au crépescule. Ça me rappellé d'un proverbe en Francais qui parle de "quand la corne de la lune est en bas..." the weather is supposed to be one way, and "quand la corne est en haut" it's supposed to be another. I think it's something like, when the points (horns) of the moon are pointing upwards, there will be good weather, and when they point downwards, the weather is supposed to be bad? rainy? I am not sure. I looked it up once, and there are modern French weather proverbs that talk about this very thing, but I am interested about the local version. I heard someone mention it on KVPI's Tasse de Cafe radio program one morning. They said .."oh ouais, la corne est en haut!" and everyone understood. That's something that I have noticed that Cajun and Creole people of Louisiana still do. We watch the sky and animals for the forecast. Wonder how long that information has been passed down and will continue to be. Please excuse the "blurific" iphone photos, but, j'connais pas, there is something nice about them, quand-même.
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| la lune et le bamboo sont hauts |
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| What does it mean when the horns of the moon are up? |
Monday, August 20, 2012
Painting of the Prairie 2006
I did this painting of the prairie just after we moved in, in 2006. I never really finished it, but it was good enough to remind me of how the prairie used to look.
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