SouthboundYank

Just moved in here...very heavy rain, gusty winds but only a bit of lightning, although the beefier returns with more lightning are just to our SW and moving this way. If nothing else...shouldn't have to water the new sod this evening.

Adding to the list, @CAPE...that Utopia sounded incredible. Although I feel like I might only be able to find those at the mothership in Rehoboth. I'm assuming that four-pack is all gone by now... Here are some of our favorite new tries from the past couple of weeks -- the Solace/Ocelot collab? THAT was an immediate buy, based on the label alone...my sons and I are tremendous Archer fans. However, we are also big Solace AND Ocelot brewery fans and this IPA did not disappoint. Extra kudos on them for securing the Archer licensing and getting Sterling and Baboo on the label...they fit perfectly. The Three Notch'd Dreamsicle was GREAT in my estimation, nice balance of vanilla and orange...not so much in my wife's estimation, but then again, she's not a huge fan of citrus flavors in beer. Finally, the Aslin milk stout is probably the best balance I've ever tasted in a peanut butter/chocolate stout...not a high ABV, so a good choice for a "dessert beer."

Absolutely! This morning's STW reminded me that severe season is pretty much here...and I need to get off my arse and order a radio. I have several models saved on Amazon, but I'll let you know what I narrow the selection down to.

LOL. ALEXA just alerted me, and I see no sign of it (yet) on LWX's page. And you just reminded me...I MUST replace my wx radio that died last year. :/

89 IMBY. Wowzers.

Got down to 33 and I'm glad that's as low as it went...we might actually have a full (and non-freeze-burned) set of blossoms on our pink dogwood this season, for the first time in many years.

What a great capture. I'm guessing this particular person MIGHT be a chaser and therefore using more professional equipment, however...most of the cell phones that most of us carry (especially iPhones) are capable of doing captures like this, and it seems like we get a lot more recordings of wx events in recent years because of these technological advances. I'm here for it.

Yeah, I noticed the smell yesterday while on Fort Belvoir...very slightly, anyway. Apparently, though, some of the more hyped-up Fairfax County parents took notice, freaked out, alerted FCPS school officials, and schools were keeping students inside for recess yesterday. For a light bonfire smell.

This is what truly scares the crap out of me...we took a day trip on Saturday, and I was astounded at how many folks ON THE INTERSTATES were weaving/bobbing on the road, and (no surprise) were head-down on their damn phones. I'm somewhat guilty in this regard, but FFS, if I have to take a call I'll do so through my car's Bluetooth connection to stay focused on the road, and if I'm THAT compelled to answer a text I'll DICTATE it via Google Assistant. I'm truly surprised there aren't more accidents. Thank you @Always in Zugzwang for the common b'day wish -- you always remember! -- and TY to others for the well wishes. I can honestly say that most of my birthdays have not been as memorable as some of yours, with the exception of when we were out of town, four hours away, for my birthday seven years ago...and I got the call early that morning from the vet/kennel where our 10-year old Labrador retriever was boarding. He had developed stomach bloat overnight, and it had become so severe that there was no viable options to comfortably extend his life beyond that. He was sedated but in a lot of agony...and I had to make the long-distance/remote decision to have the vet euthanize our four-legged friend. To keep him alive for another four hours so we could be there would've been agonizing for him, and as much as we loved him and wanted to say goodbye, I couldn't put him through that. Thank heaven, we had a wonderful neighbor who was great friends with him, who went to the vet to be with him while he slipped away. Worst...birthday...ever. Adding THIS one to the list....thanks, @CAPE! Oh, dude....the stories I've heard this week about exploded (or imploded!) brackets. And yeah, I notice that the folks who just kinda throw the bracket together on a whim (like your partner) tend to have the best luck...

So, BOTH of my parents (and particularly my mother), used to literally SCREAM at me while giving me driving lessons back in the mid-late 80s -- "DON'T you dare look back over your shoulder(s), and ONLY use your mirrors!!!" Patently, NO. Sorry. I pushed back on that back then (and sometimes lost my driving privileges with my parents' cars because of my "insolence"), and I continue to do so today. And like @H2O, I absolutely refused to teach my sons my parents' fool-hardy approach, when they were learning to drive in the DMV a decade or so ago. You can still safely take a half-second glance back over EITHER one of your shoulders to switch lanes...and you NEED to in a major metro area, with the kind of traffic that we all have to deal with, from way north of Baltimore, to way south of Richmond.

That is horrific...

I love when you two in particular, speak of NVSL-related stuff...because it makes me that much happier that my family and myself are OUT. OF. ALL. OF. THAT. NOW. My sons are 28 and 26 now...they both started swimming from just shortly after they could walk, and joined the neighborhood summer team both when they turned 6-7 years old, and then stuck with it until the end of HS. The older one was focused on lacrosse and stuck with summer swim purely as a social event; the younger one enjoyed far more successes early on with summer swim, which parlayed into year-round club swimming in middle school, which led to participating in national events (and the intermittent pressure of national rankings which come along with that), which led to...TOTAL burn-out by the end of HS. And despite recruiting with several D1/D2 schools for swimming, our youngest son was in near-tears when he told his mom and I at the end of VA states in his HS senior year: "I just don't think I can swim in college...or maybe at all anymore." And sadly, that WAS the last that he swam competitively. I don't ask about it anymore, even at 26, because it's a tender subject with him...I feel like he let us down as parents, and (maybe?) others who supported him over the years. I share all of that to say this -- simply try to enjoy the summer and your neighborhood pools, and any of the social benefits that stem from that. Folks rarely do that anymore...I feel like overbearing parents in OUR neighborhood are constantly pushing to get their 3-4 year olds on the mini-swimming starter team...for FFS, people, let your littles enjoy swimming WITHOUT the immediate competition!!! I understand concerns about losing high performers on the summer team, @mattie g. You'll fill or supplement those gaps, in some way...it's inevitable. In our family's case, I think my youngest son kinda felt like he couldn't leave the team after 9th or 10 grade...because he thought he would let the team down in terms of his events (freestyle/butterfly)...and some of that came from witnessing our team's "sinking" from NVSL Division 7-8 when we started, to Division 11-12-ish when we were done. Not saying that you or anyone else means to "apply pressure" to your better swimmers...but as a parent of one of those swimmers who enjoyed occasional success in that realm, that team/parent support can be (and has proven to be) a double-edged sword. Swimming is a life skill, and AWESOME exercise especially as you get older...but I really don't think my youngest will get back in the pool again, even for exercise. And that makes me a little sad. I know @H2O gets it, given his commentary on this subject over the years, plus he's got the battle scars as a pool board member, and one who's likely served in ALL of the NVSL officials positions over the years, to prove it. He's got a great attitude about it all, at this point...good advice he shares here. Also, he's also being pretty modest about his "old" pool. It may be older, but OUR nearby neighborhood swim team always LOVED going to his pool for B meets...it's in a beautiful setting with mature trees, the swim team, officials, volunteers and other pool members were ALWAYS welcoming (unlike many pools in the western part of FfxCo!) and every member and volunteer at his pool was ALWAYS easy to work with. Plus, they had a kick-ass grill and cafe going on!! Sorry for the long rant. But the exchanges you all shared here made me grateful that I once more threw our pool share into the "lease" bucket this season...

I know, RIGHT?? That minute or two of extra daylight each day makes such a difference in my attitude and outlook this time of year.

Oh, HELL yeah. Sure, it's a little cooler than I like today....and after last night's temps, the magnolia trees now look like they're covered in last week's moldy porridge....but oh, I'm happy-dancing because official spring is here. (Now, to contend with the achy sinuses....)

Your experience, and @CAPE's recent "puddle" update on his property notwithstanding....I *did* notice this weekend on the first big, comprehensive mowing on my property, that it was the first spring in a decade or more, when my mower didn't become mired in muddy and swampy ground. In fact, with the exception of a couple perpetually shady spots (through the winter), my mower tires were nearly clean and mud-free when I finished on Saturday. I haven't reliably measured precip on my property in a few years, so can't tell you how much of a deficit at which I might be. SIDEBAR -- this will be my first full season with a Makita battery-powered lawn mower; I did a ton of research last year and settled on that model (though there are several GREAT battery-powered mower brands out there). Mine came with four 4.0 Ah, 18v batteries, and uses two at one time -- one set of two typically runs in the mower for about 45-60 min in my case, and since the charger (also included with the mower) takes a bout 45 minutes to recharge two batteries, you could conceivably keep swapping batteries for mowing and charging for any size of property. This isn't practical for everyone, obviously. My property is kind of a typical suburban, .25 acre "postage stamp" (or "pie slice" since I live on a cul de sac), and I can usually do the front/back yards using just TWO Li-ion batteries in the Makita mower. I'm aware that battery life will diminish over the course of a couple years, but...the mower is lighter to push, it's quieter, it's...just a joy to use. I so wish I'd made this mower transition years earlier.

We reached a high of 45 this afternoon...but I'm sure as hell glad that I did the first initial full front/backyard mowing yesterday, when it was 5-7 degrees warmer. I'm honestly trying to remember, and I don't think I've ever had to do the "first big mow" this early in the season...usually ended up being first week of April in the past 10-20 years. But, tons of weeds, and early patches of high, neon-green spurts of grass growth meant that the whole thing required an even cut at this point. All good.

Have followed your start-of season progress on your property the last several years, @CAPE...and this is kind of an interesting start to the warmer seasons for you. I guess I'm glad, in this case, that you're only starting with one small puddle!

Yep. I noticed the earlier-than-usual emergence of the peepers in our area....about this same time in early Feb that you mention. I wondered then, if the "writing" was "on the wall" for the 2022-23 winter. Personally, I don't mind one way or the other....I enjoy snow, but I despise cold weather now, and really hate to clean up blizzard-like snow accumulations at this point.

No, haven't seen Nepenthe beers at our Weggy's....but believe me, I'm watching now.

This looked like a great recommendation....although I couldn't find it when I went to Wegman's this morning, so instead I stumbled on this little collection from Southern Tier in western NY state, and thought....what would you, or @CAPE or @Scraff do in this situation?? Well, y'all would probably buy this box. And yes, based on that internal thought process, this box found its way into my cart, and into my garage fridge.

Yeah. And this is why I no longer invest the time/energy into bracket building. On a brighter note...what a delightful spring day. Got up to 66 IMBY between 2-3 p.m. Incoming showers tomorrow, and then....the first ugly mowing of the front/back yards come Sunday or Monday, during chillier temps.

Thanks, man! You always help me keep a fresh/tasty "buy to try" list. Love the RAR beer goblet, too! Also, thought of you when we picked this up last week from one of our favorite VA breweries....it's oustanding.

You're always a breath of fresh air, Jeb...you're the reason that many of us still take wonder-filled "Jebwalks" in the snow, years after you left this area... And I appreciate your shout-out for ST: Enterprise, which is definitely included on P+. When it came out around 2001, most diehard and casual ST fans were suffering from Star Trek fatigue, at least on TV...and I feel that show was underrated and not given a fair chance at the time. ST:E had a great cast, and pretty good writing and story arcs, especially in its final two seasons. I think the passage of time has helped Enterprise to be less critically judged, and more readily accepted in the ST realm. I know I enjoy it more when I watch it now, 20 years on...

#PREACH. ST:PIC S2 just wasn't that good because they (IMHO) insisted on falling back on the shopworn "time travel" trope...and S3 is the first that I can't wait for the next episode to drop. In recent times, I feel the laziest ST writers return to the "time travel" and "Mirror Universe" wells far too much. While DS9 went there, too, that show's writing and story arcs were original, well done and just consistently good.

Sounds like we approach Trek from the same critical angle. Given that, I think you will REALLY enjoy Picard S3, certainly more than the first two seasons, as it definitely feels more ST than before. And a GREAT point about ST: Prodigy, didn't mean to leave that one out -- I did watch the first season and was pleasantly surprised at the writing and storyline, and thought the voice cast was quite good. I like that Prodigy's creators/writers not only respect canon, BUT, that they're writing a thoughtfully mature show that's aimed at younger viewers without insulting their intelligence. And AHHHH, "In the Pale Moonlight" -- agree 500%! An episode that forces us all to consider, "To what lengths will I go to achieve my objectives?" Still get chills watching that one...and it's no accident that it often appears at the top of (or within the top 3) of best ST episodes of all shows/all time!