monsoonmartin

It’s typical April weather: rainy and cool for a few days, then we’re going to have gorgeous weather for the weekend, and then we’re back down to the rainy coolness for the beginning of next week. Temperatures dipped below freezing last night (and may again tonight) giving us an unwelcome bit of frost on our windshields, followed during the commute by fog, and finally by sun-blindness. Totally fun!

Here’s the forecast for the coming couple of weeks, nosing into the beginning of May. Enjoy!

Friday, 4/17: clear and beautiful with blue skies and plenty of sunshine. Rather breezy. High 72, low 41.

Saturday, 4/18: partly cloudy, breezy and warm. High 76, low 45.

Sunday, 4/19: partly to mostly cloudy and cooler with some light breezes. Light showers are possible throughout the day, but don’t expect a washout. High 60, low 42.

Monday, 4/20: mostly cloudy, quite windy and colder with rain possible—including some steadier pockets of precipitation—particularly in the afternoon and evening. High 49, low 38.

Tuesday, 4/21: mostly cloudy and cool with a few showers possible, mostly light; clearing late. High 53, low 43.

Wednesday, 4/22: clearing and milder with breezy conditions. High 61, low 46.

Thursday, 4/23: sunny, clear, and seasonably magnificent. High 65, low 51.

Friday, 4/24: continued sunny and clear. High 68, low 55.

Next weekend: partly cloudy and nice on Saturday with a high in the mid 60s, then clouding up at night ahead of some Sunday rain, when highs will reach into the low 70s.

The following week: we’ll be near seasonal averages for much of the week, with highs in the mid 60s and lows in the mid 40s. Getting warmer (and actually more humid) toward week’s end ahead of some major moisture.

Beyond: it looks like we’ll begin May with a blast into the 80s (!) before moderating back toward seasonal averages. Stay tuned for updates!

Monsoon

I’m well overdue for a weather update, so here goes: we’re going to be fluctuating wildly through the coming weeks—60s one day, 40s the next; rain one day, brilliant sunshine the next—so be sure to dress and prepare accordingly. Just a little weather tip from your old pal Monsoon.

[A quick update on The Bunk, who had surgery to remove his testicles on Monday 3/30: he’s recuperating like a champ. He’s all hirsute energy, and was thrilled to have been freed from his “cone” (the Elizabethan collar) a couple of days ago—though he still wears it at night. Wound is healing nicely, all is well, and he’ll be visiting his friends at the Total Dog on Tuesday! Pretty soon I’ll let him address you all again, as he so memorably (and profanely) did the day of his surgery. A couple of snapshots appear after the forecast.]

Sunday 4/5 – sunny and very mild with a high in the mid to upper 60s. Clouding up in the evening ahead of an approaching cold front. Look for rain developing toward dawn on Monday. Low 48.

Monday 4/6 – overcast and rather windy with rain—heavy at times—and a thunderstorm likely. Watch for hail and damaging winds with the storm, though I don’t think we’re going to approach the widespread damage seen last weekend. Rain becoming intermittent in the evening, tapering to showers and drizzle late. High 59, low 43.

Tuesday 4/7 – mostly cloudy; clearing throughout the day. A shower cannot be ruled out early. Quite windy and markedly colder. High 46, low 29.

Wednesday 4/8 – partly cloudy, breezy and chilly. High 47, low 33.

Thursday 4/9 – partly cloudy with clouds rolling in late; rain possible in the evening and overnight. Milder. High 54, low 38.

Friday 4/10 – rather cloudy and breezy with showers and drizzle possible on and off throughout the day. High 52, low 45.

Next weekend is looking clear and seasonably mild for the holiday celebrations, egg hunts, and the like: clear to partly cloudy and breezy with highs in the mid to upper 50s and lows around 40.

Next week is looking rainy and cool—at least to start. Rain is possible anytime Monday through Wednesday, with highs only in the low to mid 50s. By Thursday and Friday we’re looking at clearing skies and somewhat milder conditions with temperatures getting into the upper 50s and low 60s.

Beyond we’re looking a bit rainy (April showers, and all that) and cool, followed by the warmest temperatures of the season so far around the 20^th or 21^st—highs perhaps reaching into the 70s!

Monsoon

The Bunk Pauses in Chewing Toy to Pant, Gaze Out Window.  The Bunk Gazes Sweetly at Monsoon. On Far Left of Picture Lies Remnants of Ropy Triceratops Toy, Mercilessly Pulverized By Sweet Bunk.

In honor of his successful surgery today, I thought I’d let Bunk write this post reflecting on his experiences. Enjoy!

Hey, everybody! Has anyone seen my nuts?

But I kid. How they hangin'? Just a little joke among us castrati.

Earlier today I was neutered. I was asleep for it, but I’m not going to lie: I’ve got some lingering groin tenderness.

I know all about why it’s good and right for me to have undergone this surgery. I’ll live longer, I’ll stop pissing on the vacuum cleaner at the doggy day care, and I can stop all the damned humping already. (Not that I was known for it or anything—my owners nipped that in the bud the first time I got a little too friendly with a leg—but every now and again, when the testosterone started flowing...well, a dog’s gotta do what a dog’s gotta do.)

I spent the first hour or two after my owners brought me home in utter misery. As if the whole castration thing weren't indignity enough, I’ve got this goddamned Elizabethan collar on my head to stop me from biting the wound. I’m trying to walk around the house, and I don’t have peripheral vision worth a good god damn, so I keep running into shit. Mr. and Mrs. Monsoon keep stifling laughs when that happens, like it’s adorable and pathetic all at once. Maybe I’ll bite one of them on the ankle, and then when they hop around bleeding and screaming, I’ll snicker about how adorable and pathetic they look. Hey—a dog can dream...

After laying and whining for a bit, then trying futilely to rid myself of this infernal collar, I had a bit of a nosh and then conked out in front of the door. I’m supposed to wear this thing 24/7 for ten days, and I can’t run and jump for a week and a half either (no worries there—I don’t think Monsoon would be elevating for any dunks after having his tatties lopped off, you know what I’m saying?).

Below are a few pictures, some of which will enable you to enjoy a titter at my expense. Go on. Laugh it up, Chuckles. I may be a fuzzy ball of unimaginable cuteness, but I'll ... well, suffice it to say I’ve met some pretty unsavory bitches at doggy day care.

The BUNK

I gaze out the window in simpler times, just days before the surgery: pre-collar, pre-"fixing." It just ain't right. 

Trying to get a bite to eat.  Pondering the indignity of it all.

Monsoon

Friends,

The Bunk turned seven months old on Tuesday!  He's now approximately 40 pounds and just as fluffy and adorable.  In fact, several times a day, Mrs. Monsoon says, "Oh my God, do we not have the cutest dog in the whole wide world?"  (And that's not just the pain pills talking.) 

It's a rhetorical question, of course: we do, in fact, have the cutest dog in the whole wide world.

Next week, The Bunk will be facing the first surgery of his young life; he will undergo an orchidectomy.  (No, this procedure does not involve an orchid, as pleasant as this sounds.  The etymology of "orchidectomy" is Greek: "orchis" means "testis" and "ectomy" means removal.  In other words, he's having his bollocks evacuated.  His knapsack emptied.  He will be nadless.)

All that aside, here are some great recent shots of The Bunk! 

The Bunk Takes Break from Squeaky Lizard Conquest.  The Bunk Keeps Watch on Backyard from Favorite Spot. The Bunk, in Full Just-Groomed Poof, Claims The Monsoon

 Monsoon

Habari mori,

Sorry I haven’t posted any weather (or jibba-jabba) for a little while. Kind of a lot going on in the world of Monsoon. The good news is that spring is here and everything is now looking up. Thanks to everyone who sent flowers, well-wishes, emails, texts, gifts, and of course, scrumptious meals (big-ups to Megan!!). We really are lucky.

A brief update on the weather appears below. Soon I’ll have a Bunk update, as tomorrow (Tuesday the 24^th) is the seven-month anniversary of his birth!

Tonight will be clear and quite cold, especially for this time of year. Strong winds will diminish overnight; low will be in the upper teens.

Tuesday will be sunny and continued chilly, with temperatures a bit below normal. Expect a high in the upper 40s with moderate winds, and an overnight low in the mid 20s.

Wednesday looks partly cloudy, windy, and seasonably milder with a high in the mid 50s and an overnight low around 40. A few showers a possible late.

On Thursday temperatures will be nearly steady in the mid to upper 40s with overcast skies. Expect showers and drizzle off and on.

Friday looks quite nice: partly cloudy with a high creeping into the upper 50s to perhaps the low 60s; low only around 40.

The weekend will be overcast, chilly, and rainy. Expect rain mainly on Saturday, but showers and sprinkles* could linger into Sunday. Highs will get into the low 50s on Saturday, then only into the mid 40s on Sunday. On Sunday into Monday, temperatures could dip below freezing—possibly for the last time this season.

*A note about “sprinkles”: that is the proper term for precipitation that is steadier than drizzle but not quite steady enough to send people running for their umbrellas. “Sprinkles” is not the term for those small, oblong toppings that are used to coat an ice cream cone or doughnut. The proper term for these dessert toppings is “jimmies.” Anyone beg to differ?

Jimmies.

A postscript to the note: some have speculated that “jimmies” (used to refer to chocolate ones, with “sprinkles” being used to refer only to the rainbow-colored ones) is a racist term whose origin lies in “Jim-Crow” laws. I am just the sort of fellow who would all-too-eagerly believe in such conspiracy-theory bigoted origins.  However, my own exhaustive research has revealed that this is not true; the term “jimmies” refers to the machine operator at Just Born, which made the “chocolate grains,” later known as “jimmies.” Further confusing the matter is that these items are also sometimes known as “hundreds-and-thousands” and “on-tops” (particularly in Britain, but these also refer to such cousins of jimmies as nonpareils). And that “jimmies” are slang in Canada (and elsewhere) for the genitals, and slang in some parts of the Northeast for prophylactics.

Where was I?

The last couple days of March (Monday and Tuesday) are looking partly cloudy with temperatures a bit lower than normal: highs in the mid to upper 40s, lows in the mid 30s.

Wednesday (April Fool’s Day, and Megan’s birthday) will see a sharp drop-off in temperatures as a moisture-laden system moves through. High will only get into the upper 20s, and we could get as much as six inches of snow from this event.  Expect widespread school closures.

April Fool. (Come on—you didn’t see that coming?) Expect seasonably mild conditions with a high in the mid 50s and a low in the upper 30s for the first day of April.

The rest of the week is looking rainy and cool with temperatures mainly in the low to mid 40s.

The following weekend (and beyond) will see clearing and spring-like conditions: highs in the 50s and reaching toward 60!

Monsoon