Hailstoned

Nice NW to SE cell just pounced here in Monson, and provided the coup de gras to an already damaged sun umbrella that shielded the table on the deck Gust front, crack of thunder and 10 minute downpour-- now the sun's back out.

I once saw a young woman on the Knife's Edge on the summit of Katahdin; there had been a few rumbles of thunder; and she was standing on top of a rock; her friends looking up at her blond tresses writhing about in the charged electrical environment. I could confirm this was a real phenomenon because my boots were sounding out a weird squelching static sound as I navigated the treacherous path. Luckily, this did not escalate as it dangerously could have-- just a heavy downpour to help wash our way back down the mountain.

1.13 so far.

.99 now with the rain temporarily eased. Thunder rumbling to the south heralding the next batch.

.66 in about a half hour here, and still pouring.

Off to the races here in Monson, with heavy rain and a close lightning strike.

NO

Scientist tackles James Joyceian stream of consciousness. Fascinating!

When we moved into our current home, I vowed to go electric as much as possible: 1. Removed the basement furnace (A pellet one that took up a lot of room) and replaced with a mini-split system. 2. Installed solar, about 36 panels (we're fortunate to have good solar exposure here.) 3. Bought an excellent high capacity wood stove with a calalytic converter, that heats our spacious main room. You Know Who's beloved gypsy moths took out enough oaks here that am still processing the wood and waiting patiently for the rest to fall. 4. Bought an electric truck and installed my personal "gas" station in the barn to fuel it. Results: 1. The solar panels are paid off, and we sell enough energy back to the grid that from May to October, have no fuel or AC bills. (We use the mini-splits for de-humidifiers to cool our main room but only in extreme heat such as we're now experiencing.) 2. We're in a program with the state of Massachusetts where in turn for selling excess generation back to the grid, we're paid $120 a month 3. My "gas" free holiday extends from May to October where I charge at home for free. Downside: Just one, though pretty significant. Even with the wood stove we pay a lot over the low sun months for the mini-splits to heat the rest of the home, though the $120/month takes a nice dent out of that. Future plans: We live on an active year around stream and would like to put in some kind of small, hydro-electric system. Anyone have any info on how to go about that?

So far, they seem sparser than in previous Junes here; hopefully, just not out in force yet.

Wow-- even denser than usual! My thesaurus just spontaneously ignited.

That's unherd of.

Toilet training in the outside two-seater?

But not referring to stasis/stagnation which results in drought conditions, but rather to frequent changes of air mass (frontal passages).

We're not getting the refreshing cold frontal passages, as used to be summer breaks from heat/humidity for a few days. And with fewer of these frontal refreshers seems also fewer thunderstorms/severe weather episodes punctuating their passage.