Songs

A Spot of Sun

81 Comments

I haven’t heard any complaints about warmer temperatures over the past week, as the sun shows its power and begins to melt our winter’s snow (to make room for our spring snow).

Now comes word that the sun is also spitting out increased amounts of charged electromagnetic particles (a Coronal Mass Ejection) in keeping with a predicted rise in turbulent solar weather that is expected to peak in 2012.

Over time, this could cause some disruption in our systems. Communications failures are possible. Navigation might be affected. There may even be power outages.

Great. Now we have to think about solar weather on top of our existing obsession over the more immediate and understandable local weather. Eventually there will be songs.

Oh the weather up there is spotty
Yeah, the Sun is one hot toddy.
And your eyes will melt if you stare.
Let it flare, let it flare, let it flare!

Oh the scientists are detecting
some Coronal Mass Ejecting.
Let’s put on our lead-lined underwear,
Let it flare, let it flare, let it flare!

When it finally settles down
2013 or 14 or so,
If enough of us are around,
we can re-fixate on snow!

Oh it doesn’t show signs of slowing.
Should the northern sky be glowing?
With charged particles in our hair!
Let it flare, let it flare, let it flare!

This is just a start, of course. Can you picture Gene Kelley dancing to “Singing in the Flame”?

And for those who enjoy a good informational science song, they don’t get any better than this one from They Might Be Giants.

The sun is our friend. A really, really volatile and intense friend who will burn you if you’re not careful.

How do you manage your exposure to the sun?

81 thoughts on “A Spot of Sun”

  2. Clyde posted first today? the world is coming to an end! please don’t move beyond the TB wavelength, Clyde!
    i take my sun however and whenever i can.
    it’s 34 degrees right now in Blackhoof! one more warm day today – then a reminder that it’s not over yet.
    a warm, gracious good morning to You All

    Like

    Reply

  3. Sun exposure is a bad for lupus and is a trigger for me. My wife and I both hide from it. I have such fun body chemistry. I am having a stronger allergy reaction to being home than to any place I have been in the last 29 days.
    OT: regarding living here in Efrafa. We pulled into our garage last night and walked into our house with the phone ringing. It was the one person we know well here who was tending our house. Someone had called that quickly to tell her that there was activity at our house. She was not even sure how the woman who called her 1) would have seen us and 2) would have known that our friend was tending the house.

    Like

    Reply

    1. It was probably all over the neighborhood that the strange bicyclist guy was gone for awhile and Mary Jones was watching the house.

      Can’t you hear the neighborhood banter: I wonder what the inside looks like if that man bicycles like that all over town? In the rain and snow. Does he KEEP the bike in the house? Maybe Mary will let me in there while he’s gone…..

      Like

      Reply

  4. Rise and Shine Baboons!

    Right now this is a dream question. Oh, to NEED to manage my exposure to the sun. What a privilege when I am still resentful of needing my winter wear. I want to stomp on my coat, shred my gloves, put away the wool socks. Yesterday, on a quick walk outside for a break between meetings and clients, there were people walking around without coats, faces tilted towards the sun, shoulders relaxed rather than hunched around their necks. I swear I heard a collective AAAAAHHH.

    But to the question: In hot summery places I wear a straw hat–that keeps my entire body temperature down and shields my face. If I must I’ll wear sunscreen especially on a beach. A long sleeve shirt in desperate circumstances is a must.

    I had sunstroke once in the boundary waters on an unusually hot, sunny day. That miserable experience is worthy of an entire blog entry. I’ll write that down now!

    Like

    Reply

  5. Morning all… I am good at the initial application of sunscreen before gardening, walking, biking. etc. It’s the re-applying that I’m not good at, unless I’m at the pool, which isn’t that often. Not because I’m not thinking about my shoulders (which usually get the brunt of the rays) but because I never want to stop what I’m doing to put on more. Luckily I inherited my dad’s skin, which has very stubborn melatonin, so I don’t burn easily.

    Like

    Reply

  6. Sun, what’s that? I still come and go to work in the dim and am imprisoned in a cubicle removed from windows. I guess I should be pleased with my fate because unlike the VS family my melanin is without strong personality traits.

    Like

    Reply

  7. I don’t know that I get out in the sun enough these days to have to worry too much about it. I’m just grateful for the big window near my desk that lets me at least SEE the great outdoors.

    Snow is going fast, but when I walked across the backyard yesterday, I was still atop at least a foot of packed snow-funny feeling to be up that high, completely changes one’s perspective.

    Jim, should I be starting seeds yet?

    Like

    Reply

    1. Well, MIG, I guess there are some slow growing things that need an extra early start that should be started now if you want ti grow them from seed and have a place to do that. Don’t start things like peppers and tomatoes too early. They will get too big before it is warm enough to set them out in the garden. If you have a green house or high tunnel where you can grow things like tomatoes and peppers, I guess you could start now. I do all of my growing out doors and start plants inside under lights, so I will wait at least a month to start my tomatoes and peppers.

      Like

      Reply

      2. Thanks Jim-
        If you think of it, mention when you DO start those tomatoes-I always wait until too late!

        I’ve sometimes started my broccoli early, but it doesn’t seem to be ready any sooner than the seeds I plant directly in the garden.

        Maybe I should just get some alfalfa sprouts going to cure the spring fever!

        Like

        Reply

      3. I think tomatoes and peppers are best started in the last week of March if you use the system I use in Southern MN. I start them in my basement under lights with a heating device, that is sold in seed catalogs, placed under them to aid germination. The tomatoes can do without the heating device when they get bigger and it might be a little help to the peppers to keep them a little warmer as they grow with the heater. As soon as it is warm enough outside, I set the trays of plants out during the day to get better light for growth. I’m not so sure about how to do broccoli. I think you might want to start it a little before the tomatoes and peppers. The climate in the Twin Cities is probably very close the climate here. You are farther North, but you have the heating effect of the big city.

        Like

        Reply

  8. I am one of the melatonin-challenged. If I am going to be out in the direct sun for any period of time, I must be careful to cover up – either with clothing and hat or sunscreen. Upside: 5 minutes of sunshine and I have a ton of Vitamin D. When your genetic stock comes from near the Artic Circle, you wind up with skin that is efficient at taking in the sun (for better or worse).

    Sunday, I did find myself – much like a flower – turning my face towards the warm sun when I was outside with Daughter (not skating – humph – the ice rink was already mush).

    Like

    Reply

  10. love the second poem in a row , thanks dale. gen kelly singing in the flame is a good visual. i have a collection of straw hats for watching the ballgames and a shady umbrella to sit on the sidelines with. i do this as a good example to my kids who alternate skin types, oldest tand second burns thord tans fourth burns 5 tans… i tan, my wife burns. i am not zonker but appear to many that i must be. i have the irish indian polock skin, irish is a bit fair loish has a little oila dn indian gets me darkening quickly..so i burn in april 1 time and then tan for the summer and but august or september i look like i have been working at it. hopefully my skin and i will come to an amicable end together, i would hate to run out of skin 10 years before the rest of me is ready to be done but that is what i feel like i am up against. looking forward to the 2011 solar adventures

    Like

    Reply

    1. My Goodness tim: “…oldest tand second burns thord tans fourth burns 5 tans…” and …”irish is a bit fair loish has a little oila dn indian…”– this might be your worst yet! Hah! You must be typing extra fast this morning… 🙂
      I’m teasing you….

      Like

      Reply

      1. maybe i should look. i was trying to get this done to accommodate my daughters request for cinnamon rolls before school. got her out the door with a new cinnamon roll recipe in our bag of tricks with 3 minutes to spare. thanks for pointing it out. nice to have proof readers.

        Like

        Reply

  11. Good morning to all,

    It is finally getting warm enough to do more wallking out side. There still isn’t much bright sun light late in the afternoon whe we usually do our walking so there is no need for protection from the sun. I probably should do more to protect myself from the sun in the summer, but I don’t like wearing big hats and I also don’t like using sun screen.

    Like

    Reply

    1. i like wearing big hats but i don’t like the sweat that goes along with it. i watched lawnrence of arabia last night and couldnt help but think about the sunburn challanges of spending a year in the desert. what a fun gig. i remember hearing that the job was supposed to last 6 months and it lasted 2 1/2 years. can you imagine spending an extra 1 1/2 years in egypt with the other crew members. talk about needing to be flexible, and the sun wow.. intense scenes one after the other for 4 hours. makes me ready for the change of the seasons

      Like

      Reply

  12. We seem to have had a very long run of cloudy days this fall and winter. The last four days of sun and temps in the 40’s have been most welcome. Today we are back to what the weather service calls “wintry mix” along with strong winds. Like Anna, I burn and do not tan, but I take Vitamin D supplements anyway. Oh, to have a greenhouse to start seedlings! Our house windows are not situated the right way to take advantage of the sun for seedlings, and I believe the cats would manage to eat anything we would start. Have a great day, Baboons. Spring is coming, but I fear March and April will be long and unpleasant. They are filling sandbags in Fargo for the annual floodfest.

    Like

    Reply

    1. try a 2 dollar light bulb in the basement. it works pretty well. it is surprising that light far away for gradually longer periods of time works lots better than blasting it right off the bat.

      Like

      Reply

      1. I use florescent light fixtures suspended from chains. I buy 2 bulb shop lights and put two sets of them side by side to give a wider area of light. If you are only growing a few plants, one set will do. I hang them so that I can adjust the hieght with the chains. I adjust them upward as the plants grow, always keeping blubs as close to the plants as I can which I think is needed to give enough light intensity to keep the plants from getting too spindly.

        Like

        Reply

      2. Thanks for info, Tim and Jim. Hmm, the furnace room is warm and the cats can’t get in there. Perhaps I can talk hubby into a perusal of the seed catalogs tonight?

        Like

        Reply

  13. How do I manage my exposure to the sun?

    I cover my furry self with this trendy new stuff called ‘clothing.’ And I wear a hat. With a nice wide brim.

    Like

    Reply

    1. TGITH, I think it is a good thing that you have become trendy and are covering yourself. Of course, if you do have a very furry body, you might be able to get away with not wearing clothes, but I doubt that that would work.

      Like

      Reply

      1. tim, are you saying that you might avoid wearing clothes by staying in the shade or in and air conditioned building?

        Like

        Reply

  14. I love the sun – like I’ve always loved things that are very, very bad for me. I used to spend hours lolling on a lawn chair and soaking up enough UV radiation to last a lifetime. I have spots and moles now that don’t go away and my doctor told me firmly to knock it off. So I have, for the most part. I just can’t resist sitting out in the sun in April and May for a little while though. It feels so good.

    Like

    Reply

    1. a guitar teacher told me years ago that april and may are for guitar playing outdoors. no bugs , not too hot. welcome new friend, life is good. he said there are only 10 perfect days a years and most are in april and may. i have counted for the last 20 odd years and he is not too far off. we do have phenominal years where you can get 60-100 perfect days (the last couple of years have been record breakers) i count a perfect day as one where it is not too hot or humid or buggy. you can sit in the outdoors and enjoy. 10 is about right and when i realized that i did make a point to get a couple of those set aside just for me. find any excuse to get out and be in it. i talking myself into the spring fever mode here… it was 1989 or so when i went to the up (hi allana) for presidents weekend on a ski outing and on the way up it was 90 degrees and the snow was forming rushing torrents in the ditches. a little off average but very memorable. the drinking was better than the skiing that year.

      Like

      Reply

      1. I like playing around a bonfire in September and October. You may get a few bites but by then you’re immune to them.

        Like

        Reply

  15. Morning–

    There are so many different opinions about things… I saw a “Doctor” on TV saying we need to get more sunlight and drink more milk and that works for me so that’s what I believe. Farming of course I was always out there… don’t have the traditional ‘farmers tan’ since I don’t wear T-shirts, but I do have the tan line on my forehead… and I wear sleeveless shirts so my farmer tan goes to my shoulders… with the bare spot for my watch of course.

    In the last few years I have gotten better at applying sunscreen, but two of my three tractors have cabs now so I’m pretty sheltered in there with the radio and AC… on the open tractor I always wear ear muffs for hearing protection so that covers my ears… and then the sunscreen…
    But I’m sure I don’t put it on enough when just working outside…

    OT, but have to tell you; preview audience here last night and a new young lady in her first role onstage says to me ‘I was nervous in the first scene but this is SO COOL! I am LOVING this and I can see why people do theater!’
    Ah yes, and another one has been bitten… What fun!

    Like

    Reply

  18. Masses of paper in our mail for 29 days gone. Three things all screwed up with Medicare and related insurance. Fun to be home.

    Like

    Reply

  19. Dale doesn’t show signs of slowing.
    His mind just keeps right on exploding.
    An event of the day he will nail.
    Go it Dale, Go it Dale, never fail.

    Like

    Reply

  20. I’m not usually in the direct sun enough for it to be an issue, but then use straw hat and/or gauzy cotton shirt for cover. I don’t think anything could get my legs to color…

    OT: I’m very proud of myself: I just managed, on line, to get my TracFone minutes transferred from my old (dead) cell phone to my new (live) one. It only took me 3 hours. 🙂 A major breakthrough for one so technologically impaired.

    Like

    Reply

  21. God said, ‘”Let there be light,” and there was light. God saw that the light was good.
    I’ve always interpreted this to mean the Lord loves a suntan.

    That is a fun sun video! I wish I could show it to my students but youtube is forbidden fruit in our Garden of Ed.

    Like

    Reply

      2. You mean you don’t have a custodian named “Ed”, who is revered by all and so has his own garden plot just off the tetherball court?

        Like

        Reply

      3. No, but we do have one with little aptitude for socially acceptable conversation. Recently he shared that his sister-in-law had gotten pregnant which came as a real surprise because there was something wrong with her vagina.

        Like

        Reply

  22. I get lots of sun in the summer since I work outdoors. I try to start off slowly in the spring and use sunscreen until I start showing a little color.

    I’ve been told that you can get all the vitamin D you need by spending five minutes a day in the sun. In the summertime I spend about five hours a day in the sun and I’m still deficient in vitamin D unless I take megasupplements. There must be a lot of variation from person to person – I don’t think I make vitamin D from the sun, or something else is wrong. The sun doesn’t like me.

    Like

    Reply

    1. I imagine you’ve told us before, LiSP(WS), but I forget… what summer work do you do where you get outdoors for 5 hours/day?

      Like

      Reply

      1. I garden for people. Mostly people with big yards and lots of landscaped areas. Sometimes for people with little yards and bad knees.

        Like

        Reply

      2. Do you ever happen on or have knowledge of a way to get hosta chunks and or perennial cuttings. I get the feeling people would be happy to work with you on 5 or 6 clumps but is too big s pain to deal with. Any ideas? I have a fistful of varieties I’d be happy
        To share but not many takers

        Like

        Reply

  23. hey, All. just back from an appt. at the dermatologist for Hub. he may have basal cell skin cancer (the kind to have, if you have to have it 🙂
    he does not deserve it. i do. He: darker skinned, but some Irish in there, reads the directions on the sun block and slathers it on faithfully, wears a hat, long sleeves, isn’t out much. me: ignores the sun block, fair-skinned w/ history of skin cancer in family (lots of farmers), freckles and moles a-plenty, no problem.

    Linda iSP-WS – if you wear sunblock i’m pretty sure that blocks out the rays that help you make vit D (starts as cholesterol ) in your skin. but yes, folks have widely divergent needs for vit D. and it needs to be activated in your kidneys and liver, so there could be slow pathways there also. i take a good deal of vit D although i have backed off a bit with the recent cautions about not taking too much. not just for bones anymore, vit D is like lifeblood for some folks with winter depression problems. doesn’t work for everyone……
    signed, Professor Bleat
    or Cliff Claven – you choose

    Like

    Reply

    1. I choose Prof. Bleat for that was my brainchild.

      Hope everything fares well for Steve. Sounds like maybe I should start taking the sun more seriously.

      Like

      Reply

  24. OT – all you cheesemaker wanna-bes or are-bes: via the cheesemaking.com blog (which in intself is a great lace to find recipes and answers to questions) today found another charming cheese blog: http://madamefromage.blogspot.com/ and a blog describing cheesemaking challenge: http://chickensintheroad.com/cooking/making-romano/
    this woman is making a cheese a month and made romano this last time. good descriptions and pictures with recipes.

    Like

    Reply

    1. oooohh. sounds like we found a hot button. i would love to learn to make cheese. it was not on my list before but is now. i will look it up and report back in

      Like

      Reply

  25. Well, how about that. We just rented an apartment, here in Mankato, so not moving to St. Peter. But the apartment here gives us all we need.

    Like

    Reply

  26. OT: Reminder!
    This is from my friend, Ron Arsenault:
    “Many artists who performed at the Rock Bend last Sept will be featured this Fri 7pm, Sat pm, and Mon 7pm on MPR’s Radio Heartland show “Rock Bend Folk Festival 2010″. Recorded live, it was produced by my friend, Michael Pengra. Crooked Still, Bill and Kate Isles, City Mouse, One Fast Move, Abalone Dots, April Verch, Willie Murphy, more… Feels like going home in your flannel jammies. Y’all tune in now.”
    Couldn’t have said it better myself! 🙂

    Like

    Reply

Leave a comment