Weather and Weirdness

 I've professed my love of the fall season.  It IS true.  I do love early autumn, but we've moved into mid-autumn and it's feeling more like LATE autumn (which would actually be towards the very end of November and December) and I don't like that much at all.  It feels too much like pre-winter or just winter and I am NOT fond of that at all.  I don't like cold.  I don't like dark.  I don't like winter.  

With that said, I am glad that we have 4 seasons. Actually I think it should be 8 because as each season comes to a conclusion and a new one starts, it's kind of its own thing.  Like Winring (winter merging into spring), Sprummer (spring merging into summer), Sumtumn (you've heard that one from me before) and Auter (you know what I mean).  But I'm getting off the track, as I often do!

We've definitely moved out of the warmer portion of autumn.  As I wrote on the first day of the month, Halloween was COLD.  (Bfth, why DIDN'T you wear a winter coat?)  It was also quite windy, which is a trend that has continued.  And it's darker!

This was the first week that I drove to and from PA since we moved the clock back.  Even without ending daylight savings time, the darkness has been creeping in.  That's the way of the world.  While it was still somewhat light when I arrived in NJ on Monday, it got dark mighty fast.  And I was trying to take down the Halloween decorations that my son put up (sorry to the trick or treaters who came to the door).  Wasn't the easiest of tasks, especially since he tied up many of them really well so they wouldn't blow over.  Great for the decorating, not so great for me taking them down.  Scissors were used and he's going to have to figure out how he wants to do this next year.

Waiting for the bus in the morning was good because it wasn't dark.  However it was COLD.  Getting home it was still light, but that's not going to last for long.  I'll be using my "glow stick" as I walk so that I can be seen.  I'd also like to say that I am so grateful for the traffic light that was put up on the corner.  I know people bitch that it makes traffic worse, but I don't think it does.  Traffic always got backed up in that area; now there's just a light that (hopefully) prevents you from "blocking the box."

Driving back to PA was done in the dark, which I have gotten used to since the shutdown of Route 80 earlier this year.  (In case you missed it, https://bfthsboringblog.blogspot.com/2025/05/theyre-fixing-hole.html is pretty much the last in a long line of posts about this.)  My bus home from Newark took a bit longer and traffic was heavy, so I held off on driving out right away.  Maybe I should have delayed longer, or maybe not.  I'm not sure because while traffic was heavy (or heavier than "usual"), an hour or so after I got in, the wind and rain started.

That's where the weather and weirdness started.  I was watching tv and my husband was asleep (or trying).  It was early, but I had my earbuds in so that I wouldn't disturb him (too much).  I kept hearing noise that I thought might be a truck or something in the distance, but it was just the wind and rain.  The wind was really crazy, and we had some flickering with electricity.  At one point, though the power was on, the internet went down (which is how I get my tv), so I just turned everything off and TRIED to go to sleep.

I SHOULD have gotten to sleep right away.  It had been a long day, but I was wired.  I kept hearing strange noises.  At one point I got up and walked around the house.  The exterior lights were off (I thought it was a little early, but...) and the tv in the guest bedroom was on!  (Just the start up screen.)  I turned it off and went back to bed.  A little while later I think the power went out for just a second as devices started to reboot.  Got up again and the tv in the guest bedroom was on again!  Definitely strange and a little unsettling.  (Although my husband told me the next day that it was just the box rebooting which is why it kept happening.)

The next morning it was still pretty windy out.  I know a lot of people in the township lost power.  We never really did.  We did have "blips" but nothing for more than a minute.  Our generator never had to kick in.  With the exception of the oven clock, everything was on track.  Again, I was so grateful.

Last night, however, I noticed that our exterior lights weren't on.  So we went out to the garage.  The timer was WAY off and wasn't working.  So we unplugged it.  My husband was curious why it was plugged in so far away.  (There are so many cords and outlets...don't ask.)  He plugged it in the outlet closer and it started to work.  He reset the time and voila!  The lights were on.  But the other electrical outlet wasn't working.  And when I tried to turn on lights on the east side of the garage, they weren't working.  We couldn't find a breaker that was off that would explain it.  We'll look again later today (when it's warmer and there is lots more light).  There could be an issue here (in which case it's time for the electrician to come take a look) or, maybe for some reason that side of the garage is tied to another source?  The one that was still down a few blocks away?  That sounds really crazy, but...

Weather and weirdness seem to go hand in hand here.  So let me end with a few of the nighttime photos I took in our yard.  Spooky?  Pretty?  Or just weird?

That's up to you!

UPDATE:  We found a breaker that was "slightly askew".  Turned it off and then on and amazingly now the other side of the garage has electric!  Whew!  Just saved myself an electrician bill.  Of course the wind is picking up again, so...