A new way to pick apples

A severe thunderstorm bullied its way through our area yesterday afternoon. When Sandra got home from work, the driveway was blocked by some good-sized branches from the maple tree. She found Marley cowering in our bedroom upstairs. In the backyard, she found that two apples trees had been uprooted. The storm also broke a peach tree and sent it into the dog pen.

In Worcester, many roads were blocked because of downed trees and power lines. A couple of the trees looked scorched, as though they'd been hit by lightning. As far as I know, there were no injuries.

The storm followed the first-ever excessive heat warning for this area, around 100F with maybe 95% humidity. "If you listen to the TV," said Huck, "we should all be dead." As tough as work has been, I'm grateful that I work in an air-conditioned space, unlike those who have to do things such as roofing or working on road construction details.

We don't get many severe thunderstorms, but it's good to pay attention when bad weather is around. I get weather warnings sent to my cell phone and will check the radio while driving. That venerable Boston station - WBZ - is the place to go. Since they remade themselves into an all-news format during the day (with talk shows in the night), they're a pretty reliable source for local news and weather. They offer a weather report every 10 minutes and, three minutes later, a traffic check. Their traffic reports rarely cover anything on I-495 or west, but sometimes something big happens. The weather reports come from Accuweather, based in State College PA. With good radar and satellite information, along with National Weather Service feeds, you'd hardly know that they weren't looking out a window on Storrow Drive.

Until last Friday. The forecaster was getting the detail of the weather, including the march of severe thunderstorms eastward. But he kept referring to the storms in "Worchester County". Everyone knows that the city and county names are pronounced Wusta.

RIP, Cosmic Muffin

One last item, from the There Will Always Be An England Dept.: Bog Snorkeling