including the five below,

will enlarge to the fullest

with two independent mouse clicks.

I have never been fond of snakes. I know why but that’s a long story for some other time. I do believe that if you happen to sit on a rattlesnake and incur a bite – that’s when you find out who your real friends are!

 I do appreciate the role that snakes play in the whole scheme of things but still have difficulties being at peace with the notion that the eastern diamondback rattlesnake might be declared an endangered species after the conclusion of a year-long study that recently began.  I know a bit about the food chain and environmental niches – but still, that’s a critter I would just as soon not engage in guarded cohabitation.

 But I have been very concerned about the number of snakes that are killed needlessly simply because of the fear that so many of us possess. That concern was accentuated about 4 years ago when a man who lives in my neighborhood called me to come over to his place to identify a snake he had run over with his lawnmower. The dead snake was a yellow rat snake, one of the most beneficial snakes we have here in the Southeast. But they are very unpopular with people who fear snakes because they grow to be very long (the record is 90”) and they are excellent climbers often seen high in trees. To encounter one in a tree at eye level can generate goose-bumps upon goose-bumps and prompt records for the backwards long jump.

 In spite of the fact that the mower-victim snake was dead I was encouraged to see it because it was the first I’d seen in the 3 years I’d lived in my West-Central Florida home. So, I’ve had my eye out for them ever since and have encouraged close neighbors to leave them alone and appreciate them. They are terrific for managing rodent populations; they are natural exterminators. If so many of the snakes were not killed by frightened or misguided humans the pocket gophers that leave holes all over this area would be culled out to a manageable number.

 Well – I’ve been discouraged since then because though I’ve seen little ring-necks, and a few southern racers I haven’t seen a single rat snake, not even the red rat (or corn snake) – in spite of my efforts to create a favorable habitat for them.

 But yesterday was a day of joy because I learned that they are still around here in my neighborhood – that they have not been completely killed off. My wife noticed that our cats were very focused as they looked through the glass of our porch window. A 5′ 6” yellow rat snake had their attention. I went outside and enjoyed the snake from a distance snapping a few pictures as the beauty took a tour around the perimeter of the house. They are egg layers and next week when I do my regularly scheduled gutter cleaning I won’t be surprised if I have to bypass some eggs. By the way, the hatchlings are generally mistaken for different species of snakes, as they look different from adults. They have a dark appearance and are strongly marked with irregularly shaped spots or blotches, against a gray background.  The one pictured here is an adult with its characteristic long-axis stripes.

 Please don’t kill them. They are not mean to humans.

The only time I’ve ever heard of one being aggressive to humans was when cornered or prodded. If you encounter one don’t expect it to scurry away in fear. They are generally docile and don’t scamper if you remain calm. This one let me talk to it for over half an hour and when I used a garden hose to place water up in the gutter it enjoyed the cascade from the downspout as the last photo illustrates.

To date, this is my favorite prayer. I first encountered it many years ago in the bulletin of the Church of the Epiphany in South Miami, Florida. I am uncertain as to its author. The church bulletin linked it to the Red Cloud Indian School in Pine Ridge, South Dakota.  I have also seen it attributed to Lakota Sioux Chief Yellow Lark who is said to have translated it in 1887.

Every single day when I went to school and returned home from both McKinley Junior High and Muncie Central High (in the 50′s in Muncie, Indiana) I passed and admired a replica of the “Appeal to the Great Spirit” cast in bronze, and erected on a site just east of the Ball family homes on the north side of the White River in Muncie. The original sculpture was created by Cyrus Dallin in Paris in 1909.  The statue in Muncie is one of three full-sized replicas.

 I love this poem for many reasons but mostly because of the emphasis upon our being a part of Nature along with the notion of which I am convinced – our most formidable enemy is seen each time we look in a mirror.

 This is it – from memory. Let’s say, it’s paraphrased. A few words and phrases might be altered a bit from the original.

Oh Great Spirit,

Whose voice I hear in the winds,

And whose breath gives life

To all the universe . . . . PLEASE HEAR ME !

I am small and weak;

I need your strength and wisdom.

Let me walk in beauty.

Make my eyes ever behold your red and purple sunset.

Make my hands respect the things that you have made,

And my ears sharp to hear your voice.

Make me wise so that I might understand

The things that you have taught my people.

Teach me the lessons that you have hidden

In every leaf and rock.

I seek strength and wisdom,

Not to be greater than my brothers and my sisters,

But to fight my greatest enemy, MYSELF.

Help me to be ready to come to you

With clean hands and straight eyes

So that when life fades, as the fading sunset,

My spirit will come to you without shame.

Amen.

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When I was in my early teens my stepfather taught me some ethics that have stuck with me.  Among other things, he coached me to patronize local merchants when at all possible and reasonably practical.  I’m blessed to live in a Florida County where there are numerous good locally owned and operated restaurants and have visited most in the 6 years we have lived here.  Not long ago I had my first meal at the Rustic Ranch in Inverness.  Some negative reviews I’ve read do not describe my experiences there – even remotely.  I recommend the restaurant.

I make no pretense to be a qualified restaurant reviewer/critic/or food preparer. My knowledge of such is minimal and my kitchen skills are confined to setting and clearing the table, loading the dishwasher, storing leftovers, cleaning pots and pans, and generally “tidying up.” So at home I am at least somewhat useful. I survived a three-year period in the ’70′s on my own cooking but I credit the Great Guy In the Sky for looking out for me (as always). But I do think that I can distinguish between good food, adequate service and the other kinds.

 The Rustic Ranch in Inverness, Florida is located at 104 South US Highway 41 (Gulf to Lake Highway) 134 yards to the SSE and on the other side of the highway from the front steps of the old historic court house.  Inverness is the “seat” of Citrus County and is located in west-central Florida about 24 miles inland from the Gulf of Mexico and 11 miles south of my home.  In 1961, the courthouse was used in scenes of the Elvis Presley movie, “Follow That Dream”.

 Late last year my wife had experienced a very pleasant luncheon at Rustic Ranch with some friends.  That gave me the idea to arrange for my neighborhood mens group to give it a try in December. Before doing so I went on-line to check reviews. The very first “hit” on a Google search (which was also the case today) was a Chow.com review that was very negative. The title was (and remains) “Citrus County: Avoid Rustic Ranch.” There was only one kind entry as a reply to that thread and it was more or less an appeal to give the establishment the benefit of the doubt allowing for “growing pains.” Still, I trusted my wife’s positive impression of the restaurant.

 On December 2 my son asked to take his daddy out for lunch to celebrate my 72^nd birthday. Giving me my choice I picked Rustic Ranch partly so that I could give it a test run for my mens group. The luncheon was terrific and five days later my mens group enjoyed great service, and great food there. Then on December 13 I submitted my opinion into that negative Chowhound thread and it appeared for, I estimate, no more than two hours before it was pulled and I was no longer able to access that thread. With all due respect to Chowhound, perhaps I broke one or more of their many guidelines – being a total novice and not having read them thoroughly. However I find it peculiar to say the least that not only were my comments pulled, at apparently the same time so was the one semi-favorable submission that had appeared earlier. It seems to me that no positive remarks were or are welcome in that specific thread. Here is what I wrote:

 “With all due respect to the writer of the very negative review, and recognizing that perhaps Rustic Ranch might have experienced some early “opening pains” I found the restaurant, it’s food, and service to be delightful. My son took me there for my 72nd birthday on December 2. Though it was after noon we made our selection from a great breakfast menu. Breakfast is served until 4 P.M.

 This year (2011) I was in charge of the monthly luncheon of my neighborhood’s mens group. There were 18 of us who converged upon the restaurant for our very first group visit there. I have absolutely no complaints and furthermore, in my position of responsibility I was sure to ask each attendee about their impression of Rustic Ranch. Everyone was very pleased and I also learned that many had been there multiple times before. This is quite a testimony because to say that my friends are particular is an understatement. I should add that in spite of the number in our group, we were comfortably seated together rather than being split up.

 My wife is the one who suggested that I plan to have December’s luncheon there. She had previously eaten there with a couple of her friends and I distinctly remember her praise on that afternoon when she returned home.

 The service was excellent for my wife and her friends, my son and I, and my mens group. I was particularly impressed with how all other patrons seemed to be served in the same efficient, cheerful manner as the members of my group – that our visit did not seem to tax them either in the kitchen or in the serving area. The waitresses worked together and checkout was fast and efficient.

 I intend to return soon and often.” (end quote).

 I have returned to Rustic Ranch three times since for a total of 5 visits since my fun December 2 birthday luncheon. Once the service was a bit slow but the food was worth the wait. I intend to return, especially since I’m one of those types who enjoys breakfast any time of day. I recommend this restaurant highly to those who like good food in comfort but don’t expect a “fast-food” restaurant pace. I find it to be friendly and comfortable. It’s a place where I will be taking family and friends.

 UPDATE: Yesterday I decided to try one more time to place an entry into the Chowhound thread, “Citrus County, Avoid Rustic Ranch.” Here is what I wrote:

 POSTED 3:30 PM 3-1-2012

“I have eaten at the Rustic Ranch in Inverness, Florida 5 times since my son first took me on Dec. 2, 2011 for my 72nd birthday. The food has been very good all 5 times and only once was the service a bit slow. I recommend this restaurant to anyone who wants a tasty meal but does not require a fast-food pace. I particularly like it because I can get a good breakfast there as late as 4 pm.” (end quote).

 My words remained within the thread for maybe 4 hours at most but then when I checked again at 8 pm they had been deleted. Needless to say, since differences of opinion will apparently not be tolerated by that reviewer, I wonder what motives might be in the background for not allowing retorts to such a potentially damaging review. I find it, at the very least, sad.

Left Click Image For Enlargement

You are actually looking at the same weather system in the two images above.  It is hurricane Ike early in the morning of September 9, 2008.  On the left you see the circulation at the top of the storm and on the right you see the circulation at lower levels.  The faint gray arrows show the direction of the pressure gradient force which is the direction the air would flow if there were no Coriolis effect (caused by the earth’s rotation on its axis).  The Coriolis effect will be explained graphically in class and demonstrations will be shown on the classroom projection screen.

January 30, 2012 (revised March 3, 2012).

A new 8 hour course for Senior Learning Institute participants at the College of Central Florida is being offered in August  in four two-hour sessions. 

Meetings are scheduled for August 21, 23, 28, 30 (Tuesdays and Thursdays) from 10 AM until noon.

Here is the course title, description, brief instructor profile and outline.   Additionally, here is a link to the Senior Learning Institute web page:

http://pathways.cf.edu/SLI/index.htm

Lower Atmospheric Winds That Influence Weather and Climate.”

No science background is necessary to have a gratifying learning experience in this new 8 hour course. It is structured differently than any of the 11 earth science seminars Professor Toney taught for Senior Learning Institute participants from July 2006 through May 2009; 6 were on meteorological subjects and this most resembles the 12 hour course “Becoming Weatherwise” taught once in Oct./Nov. of 2006.

Wind is responsible for most weather changes (and has a great influence upon climate). Tonie will capitalize on what he learned about SLI participants’ learning styles and preferences during his earlier teaching activity. The course will begin with basic fundamentals concerning the cause of wind and will proceed to a discussions of the three scales of atmospheric motion which have the most profound effect upon our weather. Emphasis will be upon cause and effect, interactions and interrelationships. Air motions which are mostly vertical (both up and down) will also be discussed. Whenever he is able, Tonie will use every day analogies for clarity and will show on-line, real-time examples.

During class meetings he enjoys questions, contributions, and observations from participants. But with much to discuss in 8 hours those which are too detailed for the scope of the course may be addressed after class. He is also happy to communicate via e-mail. For those who have never studied weather, this course will make media weather reports and other weather observations more meaningful. For those who have had occasion to study weather, this will be a nice refresher which could very well enhance your understanding.

Instructor: Tonie Ansel Toney first became interested in the weather as a part-time Hoosier “farm boy” and that interest played a role in his enlisting in the U.S. Air Force at an early age, where his appetite for learning about weather was whetted. He is a retired college/university earth sciences professor with 37 years of full time experience bracketed by 4 years of part-time experience. He taught physical geology, meteorology, macro-climatology, physical oceanography, and environmental sciences. He developed a reputation for having the ability to teach science effectively to non-science majors – increasing the probability of it being “fun” in the process – and earned many teaching excellence awards. He is the most widely quoted faculty member in the 1985 book, Access and Excellence (Roueche & Baker of the University of Texas). He and his family had first-hand experience with 1992’s hurricane Andrew which “totaled” their former Homestead, Florida dwelling. They now reside in Citrus County.

OUTLINE

(page 1 of a 6 page handout to be distributed

at the beginning of the first class meeting):

Two hours of Senior Learning Institute teaching/learning pass quickly for me and I often refrain from taking a break. Please feel free to leave at any time and return when you are comfortable. My approach will be mostly descriptive (relatively non-mathematical). Without unforeseen circumstances that would prevent it, I will be happy to discuss items in more detail after class and I will also be available via e-mail.

I. The cause of air movement.

      A. The earth’s surface is unequally heated by the sun’s energy.

      B. The earth’s surface is the primary heat source for the lower atmosphere.

      C. Density/pressure differences are cause by unequally heated air.

            Moisture content in the air also plays a role.

      D. Air moving up or down causes differences in atmospheric pressure.

      E. Wind is air’s movement in response to differences in air density/pressure.

II. Motion with a major vertical component.

      A. Convection and convergence

      B. Frontal uplift

      C. Orographic uplift and lee-side descent

      D. Downbursts, microbursts*

III. Planetary scale atmospheric & oceanic motion (and forces).

      A. The Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) and the Trades

      B. The Subtropical Highs and the Prevailing Westerlies

      C. The Polar Highs, Polar Easterlies, and the Polar Fronts

      D. The oceanic gyres with their boundary currents

IV. Semi-permanent planetary scale systems.

      A. Those that occur typically during the cold or cooler half of the year

            1. The Siberian (Eurasian) High and the Aleutian Low

            2. The Canadian High and the Icelandic Low

      B. Those that occur typically during the hot or warmer half of the year

            1. The South Asian Low and the Pacific High

            2. The Sonoran Low and the Bermuda High

      C. Monsoonal circulation

      D. The Southern Hemisphere’s comparative regularity

V. Synoptic scale systems.

      A. Domes and depressions, ridges and troughs

      B. Cyclones** (after first explaining anticyclonic circulation)

            1. Middle-latitude type ***

            2. Tropical type****

VI. Local scale systems (not an all inclusive list).

      A. Sea breezes and land breezes

      B. Valley breezes and mountain breezes

      C. Katabatic and Chinook winds

      D. Mesocyclonic thunderstorms (small scale rotations that can lead to tornadoes)**

       * These are associated with cumulonimbus (thunderstorms) and are best discussed after reviewing thunderstorm motions (topic VI-D).

    ** There may be some melding of topics V-B and VI-D because of the similarities between them.

  *** These usually have fronts associated with them.

**** Hurricanes are an extreme example.

Tonie Ansel Toney (Cloudman23)

Oren & Marge Toney farm - 2010

The Kitchen Table

Gina Toney Lavatai

Farmland, Indiana is your typical Hometown, USA. The population is small enough where people know you, or know someone who knows you and everyone seems to know the details of your life. Where ice cream socials, street fairs with cake walks and hometown parades still exist. It is here where I spent many summers growing up and here is where my heart calls home.

I miss those summers spent in Indiana on the farm I am often transported back to those summer days with the smell of fresh baked snicker doodle cookies or seeing children catch lightning bugs in a jar. Sometimes its seeing my own children playing outside at night with flashlights or hearing a family story thats been shared time and time again. Whatever the trigger, I love how it always brings me back to the hours spent at the kitchen table.

My Aunt Marge and Uncle Oren are technically my Great Aunt and Uncle on my dad’s side. However, I would consider them to be as close as grandparents to me. They live on a farm and have lived there since the beginning of time. Every summer when we would go home, we would stay on the farm with them. My days were filled with playing outside in the fields, making homemade ice-cream, walking around collecting Queen Ann’s Lace, playing in the barn, visiting cousins or cutting the tons of grass on the riding mower. My evenings were filled with catching fireflies, playing flash light tag in the pines, arm wrestling with my cousins in the front room, and waiting for my uncle to get home from work.

Uncle Oren was a farmer by day and a factory worker at Warner Gear in Muncie at night. When we would visit, he would love to call home on his CB radio and pretend he was racing to cross the tracks before the train came through. Half the time, he would pretend like he didn’t make it and came to a horrible demise! That always caused our hearts to skip a beat!

Our nightly ritual was to get out the cheddar cheese and saltines and lay them on a plate. Aunt Marge would typically start pulling out some leftovers from our earlier supper too. One of the things Aunt Marge was known for, was never letting you leave her kitchen hungry.

When we heard the gravel spitting from the tires, we knew he was home. The final step was to pull out a cold Michelob for Uncle Oren, or Orenry as I liked to call him.

There we would be, excited as kids would be hoping to see Santa at Christmas, waiting for Uncle Orenry to come through the mud room door. He would sit down, pop his top on his cold beer and we would start talking about his day or just telling family stories as he munched on his cheese and crackers. Uncle Orenry is the best story teller. We would sit there laughing for hours until we had to pull ourselves away and go to bed.

The table in that kitchen is more than a piece of furniture where meals are shared. It is a place were sorrow and loss have been worked through. It is a place were life has been celebrated. It is a place were hard decisions have been made. It is a place where heartfelt laughter and joy have resonated and most of all, it is without a doubt the best definition of LOVE.

I truly miss my summers around the table and being on the farm. I hope my children get the opportunity to experience a piece of life at the Toney Farm Kitchen Table one day soon. It is one place that really reminds you what life is supposed to be about.

left click image to enlarge

Since I began this site on August 24 2008, it’s been averaging about 12 “hits” per hour. So, I’m not setting the Internet world on fire. I’m sure that many of my “followers” are either friends and neighbors, family, or former students.  Of course a number of people reach this site as a consequence of a search term that blends with something I’ve discussed.

 This is my first posting in over three months. That might be strange for a site devoted mostly to tropical meteorology but those who know me understand that I devote most of my tropical weather attention to those systems that cause alarm to folks in Central Florida where I now reside.

The six month long official hurricane season whose last day was November 30 was an active one but not for Central Florida. There were some storms in the Atlantic, Caribbean, and Gulf that caused concern but, if you have been following this site you have no doubt noticed that I ignored most of them. I choose to refrain from alarming anyone unnecessarily when I deduce that a storm in question is not likely to bother us.  On the other hand, the National Weather Service errs on the side of caution and consequently the “coverage” was vigorous and reports were easily obtained through the media.  Though I think that the media does a good job, generally speaking, I am inclined to suspect that they are spectacularizing their reports. There were times when it appeared that a storm would be coming our way here in West-Central Florida but my information and gut-level feelings indicated a very low probability.  SPECIAL NOTE: It appears that in using “spectacularizing” I’ve used a word whose acceptance is debatable; it appears to be a mere colloquialism but that fits me well.

This year’s hurricane season was very active! An average northern hemisphere Atlantic/Caribbean/Gulf of Mexico season has 11 named storms, 6 hurricanes, and 2 intense hurricanes.

 For the 2011 season there were 19 named storms, 7 hurricanes, and 3 intense hurricanes.

But for the U.S.A. specifically – the season was unusually timid. In his summary of the season, Dr. Jeff Masters (one of my important sources) wrote: “Only two named storms made landfall, Tropical Storm Lee, which hit Louisiana with 60 mph winds, and Hurricane Irene, which hit North Carolina on August 27 with 85 mph winds, and made two additional landfalls in New Jersey and New York the next day.” By the time tropical storm Don reached Texas it had weakened to a tropical depression.  There seems to be general agreement that favorable steering currents were the principle reason for our good fortune in the U.S.

I made no entries concerning Irene, in spite of the scare in New York because we were being flooded with media information and for those with cable or satellite, the Weather Channel was right on top of things. Since it wasn’t threatening our Central Florida region I held back in the wake of such comprehensive coverage.

The way our season luckily turned out has indeed caused me some considerable concern over the tendency that we humans have toward complacency. In the 6+ years I’ve lived in Citrus County, Florida there have been no tropical systems of any severe nature but the year before I arrived, 2004, was a busy one with Jeanne, Ivan, Frances, and Charlie. None of those named storms were strong enough to create a county-wide wake-up call. Some people were without power for a few days but the storms did not create events comparable to those which reverberate in our heads for years to follow – like Andrew, for example, which destroyed my home (in Homestead, Florida) in 1992.

I have heard tales of real estate agents in the area boasting that Citrus County possesses some sort of special immunity for whatever reason. I refute that notion absolutely. There is nothing about the environment that affords it the luxury of special protection other than the high sand ridges that minimize storm surge potential for those who live far enough inland from the Gulf. For example, my house sits at an elevation of 55′ above mean sea level so I don’t anticipate storm surge events. However, high water from heavy rains is a distinct possibility.

In any event I urge you who live in my area to NOT ignore the fact that you live in hurricane country. There are so many things about hurricanes that should not be discounted. For example, doubling the wind velocity actually quadruples it’s potential force. So a 60 mph wind has four times the ability to do harm compared to a 30 mph wind. Here is a link to a site which I put together regarding “hurricane misconceptions.” http://ztechzone.net/learningzone/science/science55/hurricanes.html

Coming next:  My Christmas Greeting and Reflections.

What you see is a 5 day forecast for the total rainfall in inches between 8 AM Eastern Daylight Time Sunday and 8 AM EDT on Friday .  The feared 15″ of rain in the New Orleans area predicted 36 hours earlier seems highly unlikely.  For ease in reading, left click the image two times independently for full enlargement.

What you see is a prediction for the total rainfall in inches between 8 AM Eastern Daylight Time Saturday and 8 AM EDT on Thursday (in other words – a 5 day total forecast).  Already, since this was released, the feared 15″ of rain in the New Orleans area seems highly unlikely due to dry air from Texas being drawn into the system.  For ease in reading, left click the image two times independently for full enlargement.

“Gulf of Mexico development possible late this week”

“Several of our best computer models for predicting formation of tropical cyclones, the GFS and ECMWF, are predicting that an upper level pressure interacting with a tropical wave now over the the Western Caribbean could combine to spawn a tropical depression in the Gulf of Mexico late this week or early next week. The formation location is likely to be off the coast of Louisiana or Texas, but the track of the system is hard to predict at this point.” (end quote) -

 Though this is far too early to tell, here is a six day look into the ECMWF model’s “take” on our tropical weather. It was released at 8 pm EDT, 8-29-2011 and projects out six days (144 hours).

Notice, in addition to the system in the Gulf of Mexico, the position northeast of Puerto Rico of what is currently Tropical Storm Katia.  Some are predicting that she will be of hurricane strength by the time 6 days pass.

 The error 6 days out can be enormous so take this for what it’s worth. I recommend your being mindful that the ECMWF has been doing well for the last couple of years. For instructions on viewing the model in animated form on WeatherUnderground.com, please use the following link:  http://cloudman23.wordpress.com/2011/08/25/ecmwf-model-run-the-european-model/

  NOTE: ECMWF = European Center for Medium -Range Weather Forecast

TWO INDEPENDENT LEFT CLICKS WILL ENLARGE TO THE FULLEST.

TIME OF PHOTO – 2:45 pm Eastern Daylight Time

DATE – Sunday, August 28, 2011

ALTITUDE OF SATELLITE – about 22,300 miles

TIME NEEDED TO SCAN FULL DISK OF EARTH – about 26 minute

LINK TO MORE INFORMATION ON  SATELLITE IMAGE -  http://noaasis.noaa.gov/NOAASIS/ml/imager.html