The Daily Bucket is a nature refuge. We amicably discuss animals, weather, climate, soil, plants, waters and note life’s patterns.
We invite you to note what you are seeing around you in your own part of the world, and to share your observations in the comments below.
Each note is a record that we can refer to in the future as we try to understand the phenological patterns that are quietly unwinding around us. To have the Daily Bucket in your Activity Stream, visit Backyard Science’s profile page and click on Follow.
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I freely admit I don’t pay that close of attention to global climate change figures, and only pay passing attention to what’s happening over here on the west coast of the U.S. overall, but I know from many summers of experience how hot it has been up here in Plumas County in Augusts past. It was not unusual to have at least one or two occasions during the month when the temperature would hit triple-digits, albeit this was infrequent and not predictable. But up in the 90s as a regular thing for a couple of weeks every August? Oh, you betcha. It had a certain benefit as a kid: we split for the Spanish Creek swimming hole early and mostly came home only because we got hungry.
This summer, though, I’d venture to say the rivers and lakes haven’t warmed up all that much. I guess that doesn’t matter much to me anyway, as I haven’t really been swimming in years. What does matter is that with the cool-ish temperatures my air conditioner hasn’t been on much, and that means my electric bill doesn’t contain half the pain of previous summer bills. And that is a fine thing. Less electricity consumption makes me feel better about my impact on the world, too.
The lowdown on my air conditioning unit. Note: 8 amps! That’s suckin’ some juice. I can’t use the microwave, it’s on the same circuit, when the a.c. is running. Pops the breaker if I do.
Sadly, I don’t have 220v in the house. That would reduce the current draw by half.
Here’s what Spanish Creek looked like back on the 17th. It’s the most recent photo I have of the waterway. It is a tributary of the North Fork of the Feather River.
Someone was getting in some water recreation, heh heh, regardless of water temperature.
Remember this from back in January? The dog would have been swimming in a good ten feet of water depth.
When this publishes I’ll be out catching early morning photo ops, but I’ll be back in around 8:00 — 8:30 a.m. Talk about anything you want. Don’t wait for me.
Now it’s your turn.
What’s up in your world, nature and changes, that you have observed lately?
Let us know in the comments and as always please include your location, and photos if you got ‘em!