Inspiration

I have been inspired by great friends to start this blog.  So with that, i decided that my first blog would be about inspiration, namely, the things in my life that remind me to be thankful for every new day.  I named my blog after a song written by a band that has been one of my favorites for quite sometime.  "Sunny with a High of 75" was written by Relient K, a Christian rock/pop band from Ohio.  I wouldn't exactly call the song inspirational, but it has a good message, catchy tune, and talks about the weather!  Also, if you are wondering about my profile name, Wxfairy, this was my username in college when I participated in Wx Challenge, the national collegiate forecasting competition (which by the way i did terrible every year because i always forgot to submit my forecasts on time...although there was one time when I was third in the nation for all of 1 hour before all the forecasts were verified).  "Wx" is the meteorological abbreviation for weather (if you have not already figured that out), and fairy is because I like fairies (you know, the winged creatures), not because I am a gay man. haha.

Anyways...back to the topic of inspiration.  The weather inspires me daily.  My head is literally "in the clouds" as i have been told by many, including professors in college.  I thoroughly enjoy pointing out different cloud formations to my friends and family.  My husband, Randy, has learned not to ever let me drive if thunderstorms are around because i usually don't keep my eyes on the road!

One of my favorite "break the ice" games during the first meteorology club meeting of every semester was where i asked everyone to go around and introduce themselves and pick a cloud formation that describes how they are feeling that day.  A typical answer for me was cumulus congestus (or towering cu..usually the precursor to a thunderstorm).  It is easy to pick out these clouds because they typically exhibit a cauliflower look near the top, which is where unstable air is rapidly rising.  This type of cloud pretty much describes my tendency of extreme stress build-up, until one day i just pop, like a thunderstorm.

Looking north from Westminster, SC at cumulus congestus
clouds over Greenville, SC on August 14

The guys at my office call me the weather girl, but have learned not to rely on my forecasting skills in times of urgency.  One specific incident comes to mind when my manager was driving through Alabama earlier this spring during one of the major southern tornado outbreaks.  He called me from the lady's dressing room at Kohl's where he was huddled up with one of my female coworkers waiting out the tornadoes.  Unfortunately I never answered my phone...so he was stuck in a very uncomfortable situation until they got word from the news that the coast was clear (which ended up being way longer than they needed to wait).  Sorry about that one Tad...

What mostly inspires me though are my friends and family.  I've been lucky to have their love and support throughout my life.  So, if you plan on keeping up with my blog, you will probably hear a lot about them!

I hope for this blog to be a way for me to keep up with my weather interests while being able to express the things that are on my mind.  But don't think I'm going to try and relate every emotion to a weather event (that would just be dumb).

You will probably find that my blogs are very "A.D.D." (i may begin talking about one thing and go completely off track).  But since this isn't an English essay or doctoral thesis, who cares...i will be as disorganized as I want to be (although I will do my best to make sure you can still follow along...trust me, you don't want to get too deep into my head...its a scary place!!!).

With that, I will leave you with one of my favorite quotes by John Ruskin (no idea who that is):

Sunshine is delicious, rain is refreshing, wind braces us up, snow is exhilarating; there is really no such thing as bad weather, only different kinds of good weather.

OH, I almost forgot (I seriously can't resist with our season opener in just 1 day)...WHAT'S THE GOOD WORD? TO HELL WITH GEORGIA!  HOW 'BOUT THEM DAWGS?  PISS ON 'EM!!  GO JACKETS!!!!