February 04, 2006
Three Cheers for Global Warming!
Nathan's Post #2
I know, these were allegedly going to be monthly posts. After much public outcry (okay, one person asked), I have gotten back on the horse to contribute.
So, here in the NY Metro area we have just completed the 4th warmest January since 1870. Yes, that's a ranking of No. 4 out of 137 years. And one can only speculate how much more impressive that No. 4 ranking actually is, since 1870 was the first year daily temperatures were recorded in Central Park. January 2006 may have been the warmest here since year 0070, for all we know! We had 13 days in January with temps above 50 degrees...compare and contrast that to your own hometown.
Beyond the weather, my double life of the NYC rat race (someone with the experiences to know the difference recently told me that the mad rush to catch the New Jersey Transit express trains out of Manhattan are worse than the mad rush to catch the ferries in Beijing) and NJ deer-frolicking tranquility remains interesting and exciting. Sadly, last Wednesday a gentleman became the 30th person to commit suicide by jumping off (or out of) the Empire State Building. (Unlike the weather, all the records for this sort of thing in New York are completely up-to-date.) From the 68th floor he apparently only made it as far as a 6th floor overhang of some sort, which is good because I often walk right past the Empire State Building on my way from Penn Station to my office, and I wouldn't have wanted to provide an eyewitness report. Another interesting (if not as icky) NYC sighting last week was a Ford Explorer Yellow Cab. All SUVs seem oddly out of place in the city, and especially a cab. One becomes so accustomed to the oldsmo-buick generi-sedan, I guess.
I came home early on Friday so I could go to Sadie's second parent/teacher conference of her young scholastic career. Sara went to the first, and I went alone to this one, feeling like a very responsible parent for ditching work to take an active role in my daughter's educational development. Sadie received straight C's on her report card. I thought to myself...it's okay, somebody has to be average, not everyone can be an 'A' student or the integrity of the grading scale would be shot, some of the world's most charismatic and influential leaders were no more than mediocre in the constraining environment of formalized education, she's probably just so smart she's bored, not really challenged, I thought... Then, as Miss McGlynn slid the report across the table, close enough that I could read it, I realized that there are only two grades that a child can receive at Gentle Shepherd Christian Preschool: 'C' for Consistently Performs or 'P' for Progressing. I fear for the futures of those children who are merely "progressing." Hopefully they can turn things around and make the grade.
What I thought was a very beautiful moment happened here at the house today. Sara was cleaning out the hall closet and decided her wedding dress (which is coming up on seven years old now, ya know) was not receiving the sort of storage due such an article. Thus, in a very 'Sara moment' she removed everything from the closet, called Bob Villa and the Disabled Veterans, and in no time we had reconstructed the entire second story into a more workable floor plan, and donated three pallets worth of unnecessary clothing and knick-knacks to a worthy cause. Ok, not really, but she did pull out the wedding dress to hang it without crumpling, and she decided to show the dress to Sadie.
"Sadie, do you want to see the dress I wore to get married to Daddy?"
"Suuuure!!"
Sara proceeded to model said dress, and Sadie exclaimed how "beauuuuutiful" she looked. Sadie decided we should ALL get married, so she donned her favorite dress (a long and flowing number hand crafted by her Great Aunt Lil) and insisted that I too needed a shirt for getting married (I was not shirtless at the time, but clearly my Point Loma Crusaders T-shirt didn't work for her). With everyone all dressed up and nowhere to go, we acted out a five minute, homemade, pseudo-wedding. Sadie said, "Mama's married, Daddy's married, Sadie's married, Emma's married. We're all married now!" She loved Sara's dress, had a hard time not stepping all over it, and was promised by her mother that she could wear the dress to get married in someday if she wanted to. Not sure if Sadie will remember today if she ever does need a dress to get married in...but I will.
See pictures of the girls in their dresses below:
Sara and Sadie
Sara%20and%20Sadie%202
I know, these were allegedly going to be monthly posts. After much public outcry (okay, one person asked), I have gotten back on the horse to contribute.
So, here in the NY Metro area we have just completed the 4th warmest January since 1870. Yes, that's a ranking of No. 4 out of 137 years. And one can only speculate how much more impressive that No. 4 ranking actually is, since 1870 was the first year daily temperatures were recorded in Central Park. January 2006 may have been the warmest here since year 0070, for all we know! We had 13 days in January with temps above 50 degrees...compare and contrast that to your own hometown.
Beyond the weather, my double life of the NYC rat race (someone with the experiences to know the difference recently told me that the mad rush to catch the New Jersey Transit express trains out of Manhattan are worse than the mad rush to catch the ferries in Beijing) and NJ deer-frolicking tranquility remains interesting and exciting. Sadly, last Wednesday a gentleman became the 30th person to commit suicide by jumping off (or out of) the Empire State Building. (Unlike the weather, all the records for this sort of thing in New York are completely up-to-date.) From the 68th floor he apparently only made it as far as a 6th floor overhang of some sort, which is good because I often walk right past the Empire State Building on my way from Penn Station to my office, and I wouldn't have wanted to provide an eyewitness report. Another interesting (if not as icky) NYC sighting last week was a Ford Explorer Yellow Cab. All SUVs seem oddly out of place in the city, and especially a cab. One becomes so accustomed to the oldsmo-buick generi-sedan, I guess.
I came home early on Friday so I could go to Sadie's second parent/teacher conference of her young scholastic career. Sara went to the first, and I went alone to this one, feeling like a very responsible parent for ditching work to take an active role in my daughter's educational development. Sadie received straight C's on her report card. I thought to myself...it's okay, somebody has to be average, not everyone can be an 'A' student or the integrity of the grading scale would be shot, some of the world's most charismatic and influential leaders were no more than mediocre in the constraining environment of formalized education, she's probably just so smart she's bored, not really challenged, I thought... Then, as Miss McGlynn slid the report across the table, close enough that I could read it, I realized that there are only two grades that a child can receive at Gentle Shepherd Christian Preschool: 'C' for Consistently Performs or 'P' for Progressing. I fear for the futures of those children who are merely "progressing." Hopefully they can turn things around and make the grade.
What I thought was a very beautiful moment happened here at the house today. Sara was cleaning out the hall closet and decided her wedding dress (which is coming up on seven years old now, ya know) was not receiving the sort of storage due such an article. Thus, in a very 'Sara moment' she removed everything from the closet, called Bob Villa and the Disabled Veterans, and in no time we had reconstructed the entire second story into a more workable floor plan, and donated three pallets worth of unnecessary clothing and knick-knacks to a worthy cause. Ok, not really, but she did pull out the wedding dress to hang it without crumpling, and she decided to show the dress to Sadie.
"Sadie, do you want to see the dress I wore to get married to Daddy?"
"Suuuure!!"
Sara proceeded to model said dress, and Sadie exclaimed how "beauuuuutiful" she looked. Sadie decided we should ALL get married, so she donned her favorite dress (a long and flowing number hand crafted by her Great Aunt Lil) and insisted that I too needed a shirt for getting married (I was not shirtless at the time, but clearly my Point Loma Crusaders T-shirt didn't work for her). With everyone all dressed up and nowhere to go, we acted out a five minute, homemade, pseudo-wedding. Sadie said, "Mama's married, Daddy's married, Sadie's married, Emma's married. We're all married now!" She loved Sara's dress, had a hard time not stepping all over it, and was promised by her mother that she could wear the dress to get married in someday if she wanted to. Not sure if Sadie will remember today if she ever does need a dress to get married in...but I will.
See pictures of the girls in their dresses below:
Sara and Sadie
Sara%20and%20Sadie%202
