Storm Chasing in Eastern Ontario

It's not exactly Kansas here, so I was surprised to learn that some Ontarion's have taken up storm chasing as a hobby, for most of the province is not exactly thought to be the tornado belt, but nevertheless, Connor Mockett lives here in Eastern Ontario, and he does identify as a storm chaser. He declares so right on his Facebook page.

I had never heard of him until Tuesday evening when we had a humdinger of a storm that included a red tornado warning blaring over our phones.

one of Connor's fb photos from Tuesday
somewhere during this storm chase

Danica was wondering where exactly the tornado was spotted, bit the notifications was probably just informing us that the conditions were right. Indeed, our town was mentioned as being in the storm path, and we found that Connor had been out chasing it "For the first time in my entire chasing career, I can say that was the first time I was terrified of how strong the lightning was. Driving down Dwyer Hill towards HWY 7 from Kinburn was easily the craziest lightning drive I have ever experienced, I seriously thought my car was going to get struck. The cloud to ground bolts were so incredibly intense. I'll never forget it."

This is one of his clip from his chase.

 

He arrived here in Carleton Place where he ended his chase.

I am surprised to learn that "Ontario averages 18 tornadoes a year and they usually occur between May and September. That number, over the 30-year average, has earned Ontario the crown as the tornado capital of the country." 

They mainly occur within a corridor that stretches from Windsor to Ottawa. More occur in Southwestern Ontario, but more are beginning to occur here in the Ottawa Valley. From what I can gather, most do not reach category 4 or 5 stage.

Some stats from the American Tornado Alley (from AI and/or Wikipedia)

Kansas averages 81 tornadoes per year, 2nd only to Texas who averages 135 per year. Average annual number of tornadoes per 10,000 square miles per state between 2004 and 2023. Kansas averages 10 tornadoes per 10,000 square miles per year, which is tied for 3rd place with Iowa and Illinois

The states with the highest number of F5 and EF5 rated tornadoes since data was available in 1950 are Alabama and Oklahoma, each with seven tornadoes. Iowa, Kansas, and Texas each are tied for second-most with six The state with the highest number of F5 and EF5 tornadoes per square mile, however, was Iowa. Since 1950, the state with the most violent (EF4/F4+) tornadoes is Oklahoma with 68. 

I was once out in a tornado, or very close to where it hit in Canada's Tornado Alley by Windsor and Sarnia. It was at a field day event at my high school. The event had to be cancelled in progress, and we soon discovered that nearby houses had been flattened. This included the house of two sisters that I taught. One sister was home at the time and was just dragged into the cellar by her brother seconds before the house was levelled above them. I know this because she wrote a composition about the event in the English class that I taught.

PS: Shauna reports that Connor Mockett has chased the region in the USA Tornado Alley, but he is a new contact for me.

It's Our Birthday

It's Canada Day, and we celebrate our 159th Birthday. We aren't perfect, but we do pretty well, eh?

Come late June, Sue festoons the garden with all sorts of mini flags.

On one of my night snacks and reset saunters, this is how one of the pots, looked to the camera.

This gif turns Sue's arranging into a dance. Can you learn that step: right foot back and forward again, left foot slightly to the side and raised just a bit.

Happy Birthday to us.

As a bonus this morning at 6, I looked across to my monitor. It was showing a streak of sunlight and also the sun. I’ve never seen that before. I shot from my chair. 

Fireworks Experiments

For the past few years, I have taken myself and my Canon to the trail bridge and done my best to photograph the fireworks beyond townhall. 

The photos turned out well, but last year I determined that I wouldn't do that again because the mosquitoes were ferocious, and also my photos seemed to be getting worse every year instead of better. I vowed to return to shooting from our bedroom with the daycare centre in the background. I had photographed them that way for a couple of years before I decided to shoot from the bridge with townhall in the frame, as above. The original daycare photos had worked before as you can see below.

Canon photo from my bedroom in 2023

I wondered if I were to shoot from the bedroom again, if I might be able to take the fireworks from the bedroom photo and superimpose them onto another scene. So I took some current daylight phone photos when we were out for a walk to bring home and experiment.

phone photo 2026

Obviously I had to darken the photo to emulate night, and then I composited the daycare photo shown above. It works pretty well although when I export to Blogger the photos lose some resolution and become darker.

merging 2023 fireworks with current photo after darkening the latter

Next is another composite looking toward town hall. I figure that there should be a reflection on the river, but I am not artistic, and I don't what it should look like although I made an effort.

The above photos looked to the main bridge from the trail bridge. Then, I turned about and shot toward the back bridge. In real life there wouldn't be fireworks over that way, but in the digital world, I can make my own reality. I made a different sort of guess with the reflection. (I am not using AI for these composites btw.)

Here's one more bit of alternate reality. I turned to face away from the river and along the trail bridge. Once again, I made a choice about reflections, thinking that the pavement would pick up something. I am just flying by the seat of my pants as it were.

Whatever we think about the reflections, I was pleased to more or less complete the vision that I had in my head. To wit: I composited several 2023 firework photos with several 2026 daylight phone photos, and I think the results look fairly realsitc.

Recent Evening Wanderings

It's summer, so on some nights when I can't quite settle, I will go downstairs and grab a few arrowroot cookies. I find that doing something other than lying there sometimes resets me, and I may get to sleep better afterwards. It being summer, I sometimes take my cookies out front and enjoy the relative evening coolness. I may even find my phone and take it with me.

Neighbour runs a few lawn lights and they photographed fairly well for casual shooting. It is possible that the phone might even work better than a real camera for some handheld night photos. Whatever the case, these is what I got that night.

On another night, I just took photo of our porch from the outside and one of Sue's bear inside the porch with patches lighting up from the rotating light.

One night, I went for an actual stroll a bit earlier. I made it to the park where the low sun behind me just caught the trees across the pond in front of me.

In case you are wondering, I do nighttime wanderings on my own. Sue gets to bed much earlier than I, and even if she isn't abed yet, she is ready to turn in soon. 

Into the Hinterland

Shauna will be visiting her friends back in Sarnia for her summer hols, so she has decided to take some maple products as a hostess gift. It makes sense because our county styles itself as the Maple Syrup Capital of the province. The closest sugar camp, Fultons, is only about 20 minutes north of us. Sha does work for a living, and Fultons is only open for a few hours twice a week, so she asked us to run the errand for her.

Once we leave town we are soon into rural Ontario. There being an interesting sky, Sue wanted to stop for a photo, and I took one too, just for you folk. Look at the rough road, which caused a bit of a rattling ride for our car with non-viable shock absorbers.

Fortunately, the road soon became less bumpy although it remained gravelly.

Then, we saw a young deer just off the side of the road. We stopped at some distance for a photo, but after awhile, when it didn't bound off, we inched closer, so I got a pretty good photo.

We inched forward even more, and it remained in place.

We were actually the ones to move on, and soon, we came to Fultons.

A most pleasant lady greeted us.

We looked around and selected what we needed, mostly maple bbq sauce, before taking a somewhat less bumpy route home.

Orphan Photos 3

These orphan photos have been lingering for a little longer than I had thought: not terribly long, but I was surprised to see them still in my blogger queue.

You might recall my recent photos of the rainbow lights on the bridge. This nearby house caught the corner of my eye, so I strayed over for a better look. I love the lighting and the curving path. While I would have liked to get the whole doorway in the photo, I was already trespassing, so I didn't venture any farther.

On a walk with Sue by the abandoned factory, I photographed the window along with the alarm. It's an interesting juxtaposition, and I also like the vegetation emerging from the window.

A photo of failed expectations: no shifting this lot in that car.

While others were fishing for free without a license on Father's Day weekend, this lad found a quiet spot to check his phone. He was well-framed and in good light.

Someone asked to see the flowers on the silk lilac tree-bush that I recently posted about. When I walked back there for this photo, the fragrance was almost intoxicating. They are definitely not like regular lilacs, but they are just as fragrant or maybe even more if that is indeed possible.

I could go on, but I that is enough for now. I will likely return with more orphan photos in the near future. I do accrue photos at quite a rate after all.

Three Selfies and Three Hats

Wednesday, was a day for selfies and also for one cute photo of a marvellous ice cream vendor, Doesn't she look marvellously joyful?

We took that on our coffee walk, our third of the season, where we sip our coffee by the kids' play structure at the end of the walk. Ice Cream Lady had just served, a group of high school kids whom I think had just completed their final exam.  She told that she was off to a birthday party. Good for her. She's delightful, and she has created a pleasing business for herself.

While there, we took a selfie. Hey, it's been awhile, so we're allowed. Really.

A little later, I picked up Danica to drive her to work. Since we hadn't taken a photo at our Father's Day visit, we took one in the car.

Believe it or not, I also had to get JJ to work that afternoon, and since I had also missed an FD photo with him . . . 

I have realized that I wore three different hats that day, but the shirt was a constant.

PS: I stumbled onto Michelle’s Ice Cream Carnival Facebook page by accident later. 

Back and Front

Early-ish yesterday morning, I poked my nose into the easement, which desperately needs mowing. But there are flowers — erigeron aka fleabane — along part of the fence.

They are such pretty little things, and I can't bear to mow them down just yet. It's not that anyone really sees them back there, but I am still reluctant. On the other hand no one really sees the current mess either, so there's really no hurry.

Meanwhile, out front, the daisies are beginning to open. I am so pleased to have daisies again after a longish absence. I don't know why they failed previously, but I hope this plant flourishes for many a year.

There are only three flowers open now, but there are lots of buds.

Last Gasp for My Father’s Day Weekend

Danica had yet to pay her Father's Day respects. Yesterday, she asked me to drive her to an appointment, but first she wanted to visit with the old fella. She had me stop at Tims for coffee and muffins for the three us, and then we headed over here to consume the goodies and catch up.

After some talk, I opened her gift. She gave me a little composite photo of our past times together that she put together on Pinterest. The other gift was a very nice solar lantern.

Of course, the main gift was her thoughtfulness and presence. I wish we had taken a picture of her and,  particularly, of her with me, but we didn't. We're slipping, but at least she did think to take those two of me.

We hung the lantern and once darkness fell, I took photos of the it shining in the dark.

What Has it Gots in its Pocketses

When I first posted the Father's Day photo of me and dad, one poster noted the hands in pockets. Not only did both Dad and I have our hands in our pockets, but so did the much later picture of me.

One day in church back in that early-ish 1960s, a pastor chided me for standing around, after the service I suppose, with my hands in my pockets. He seemed to see it as a sign of indolence or disrespect.

I had never thought that and certainly didn't see myself as portraying anything but a causal disposition. I was puzzled but quickly removed hands from pockets.

So all of these years later, we can get quick answers about such concerns. To wit:

Whether having your hands in your pockets is considered disrespectful depends heavily on the context, the environment, and cultural expectations. While it is often just a casual or comfortable habit, it can be perceived as rude, unengaged, or overly relaxed in certain situations.

It can be see as disrespectful in Formal and Professional Settings, in Historical/Military Context, and also when Conversing with Superiors or Elders.

In many cultures, keeping hands hidden is strongly frowned upon. For example, in Japanese and many African cultures, it is considered deeply disrespectful and arrogant.

If I recall correctly, this pastor was of Irish descent. Other than that incident, I have never come across a hands-in-pockets difficulty.

When I am walking with Sue, more often than not I will hold my cane in my left hand and place my right hand in a jacket or pants pocket. I seems natural to me.

From Whence and Where

After my Father's Day post showing dad and me, more than one commenter wondered where my height came from. It's a jolly good question, Take a look at this photo.

That's me with all of my living family on my wedding day in 1969. Before we left for the church, I had a friend take a family picture: my uncle (left), mother and father. My dad was the tallest of the three at 5'4". Rounded up, my mother was 5'1" but her brother, my uncle didn't quite make 5'.

And there I am, looming in the background, an aberration at almost 6'2".

From where and whence came I?

My paternal grandfather was also diminutive, somewhat stocky but not tall. Granny may have been taller but it is hard to tell because she had a dowager's hump from polio. My maternal grandmother was certainly not tall. However, my maternal grandfather was somewhat tall, probably 5'10" or maybe even 11". That's my best guess anyway since I haven’t seen him since I was ten years old. 

My kids aren't short, but they are not giants, child 2 probably being 5'10". I should ask them. 

That has made me recall a recent dream about child 2 where they were definitely taller than I. Well, I have shrunk by 3" so we might actually be seeing eye to eye, as it were. I should ask them now, and then we should stand together for a photo when we next meet. They live on the other side on the country, so I don't know when such a get-together might occur. They had a visit planned just a month or so ago, but back problems threw a wrench into the works — their back issue and not mine on that particular occasion.

Dad at 50

We were dressed for church in the fall of 1962, shortly after we moved from Montreal to the western fringes of the Toronto region. I had recently turned 15 in September, and dad was either 50 or a just a few weeks from it. During that summer, I'd had much of my growth spurt and was considerably taller than my diminutive, 5'4" father. I was probably inching close to 6' tall by then and on my way to being almost 6'2".The height difference doesn't show entirely in the photo because I am standing farther from the camera.

We lived in a cottage on the nursery on which Dad worked. Directly across  from our front door lay his greenhouse, actually two and for awhile three greenhouses. There were also two larger greenhouses in another spot on the property, and dad was in charge of them all. He worked hard to keep all his flowers ship-shape.

The view from our front door. Although I left for university in 1967, Dad kept on working there for about another 10 years.

Apparently, he was giving Sue and me a bit of a tour that day. He liked Sue quite a lot, I think.

It was nice to see the old guy in his middle-aged days in the first photo because I tend to picture him more readily in his more elder years, which is where I am at now. However, it is nice to be reminded of any age now that he’s been gone for 27 years.

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Then, after preparing the above, I had the notion to insert me at Dad's ago as he was in 1962. The only photo already on the computer that would more or less work was one of me at 59 compared to his 50. The the ages and appearance were close enough to make it work somewhat, I think, and so I composited as best I  could. The new composite pushed me farther forward that I was in the original photo, so I had to make myself larger because I was much taller than dad.

It was fun to try, and I think it was worth the effort. I know that lighting doesn't match up, but you work with what you have.