On Sunday a storm rolled in with strong winds and dark clouds. We were out bar-b-quing with the neighbors so we were able to watch the weather transition from hot and muggy to cool and breezy.

Libby and I really loved facing the breeze as it screamed through the space between our house and the next. That cold blast of air felt really good after a long day in the sun. Here are a few pictures of us staring down the storm (we ran inside as soon as we saw lightning):

… oh my! It’s been raining pretty regularly here in Indiana over the past week or so. It’s causing all sorts of flooding, though thankfully our neighborhood has not been affected yet.

Here is a picture from a week ago (taken by one of my co-workers):

Beautiful, eh?

There is a thick cloud of mist in our area. Visibility is around 500 feet. It’s serene and eerie at the same time.

I’m just glad I haven’t seen Stephen King’s latest movie The Mist… cause I scare very easily.

Mr. Winter finally showed up, dropping about 12 inches of snow (on top of an existing 3 inches) overnight. After witnessing several valiant but ultimately futile attempts by my neighbors, most of whom were in four-wheel drive vehicles, I have decided to “work from home” today.

Hooray for snow!

Having grown up in the midwest, these beautiful storm pictures remind me of the awe I felt as a child. I would wager that the unique landscape of the plain states (i.e. there is no landscape) makes these storms appear much stronger than they actually are.

Is it just me, or do you hear “Riders on the Storm” whenever you see pictures like this?

(via design|asides)

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There is something very whimsical about butterflies during the summertime, flitting about from flower to flower. But do you ever wonder where they go when the weather turns sour? Scientific American answers that question (and more) with an excellent article titled “What do butterflies do when it rains?“. Some tidbits:

An average monarch weighs roughly 500 milligrams; large raindrops have a mass of 70 milligrams or more. A raindrop this size striking a monarch would be equivalent to you or I being pelted by water balloons with twice the mass of bowling balls.
…
Not only does rain pose a direct threat of injury or death, but the cool air associated with storms may also reduce temperatures below the thermal threshold for butterfly flight. In preparation for flight, these aerial acrobats expose their wings to direct sunlight, which rapidly warms their flight muscles.

Wow - this explains what butterflies are doing when they sit in the sun flexing their wings, and why we tend to only see butterflies in flight on sunny days. Fascinating!

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