Winter Storm Ukko

I am soooo over winter; Nor'easters; snow; cold AND rain; gale force winds WITH rain. Tomorrow is Spring...I better see some warm weather or else!!!

I got nothing to write on my blog besides complaining about this cold, miserable weather. I hate shoveling snow. Our tenant, Mr.-I-Am-In-Charge, comes out to shovel only AFTER he hears me scraping the decks, then tries to take all the credit by waving to the tenants—like he did all the work all by himself—then he has the nerve to pass a bill for his work. AAARRGGH!!

We all know this guy, he pops up in our workplaces and families. He is never around for the grunt work, never follows the game plan, but is always front and center for the credit. Can I get a collective groan of sympathy?

Key West

If I had extra money, I would be in Key West. I lived there for a season when I was 21 and have great memories of SUNSHINE and WARMTH and snorkeling in those incredible waters. I wouldn’t mind strolling down Duval Street one more time. Sigh.

They Gave Them Names?! For Tweeting?!

But I digress, I was complaining about winter storms. Do we need to name them? These storms actually became one long blur. So I did a search on this new trend of naming Winter Storms. The powers that be decided that since they are similar to tropical systems, giving a name would raise public awareness, increase storm preparedness, and of course, make tweeting easier.

“Naming winter storms will raise awareness, which will lead to more pro-active efforts to plan ahead, resulting in less impact on the public overall.” Tom Niziol weather.com

So, listed below were the chosen names for the 2012–2013 season, along with a brief description of their origins. I am impressed with the eclectic range—ancient Greek and Norse gods, historical figures from the early Roman and Mongol empires, Shakespeare and a NYC subway line.

Credit must be given to Weather.com

Athena: The Greek goddess of wisdom, courage, inspirations, justice, mathematics and all things wonderful.

Brutus: Roman Senator and best known assassin of Julius Caesar.

Caesar: Title used by Roman and Byzantine emperors.

Draco: The first legislator of Athens in Ancient Greece.

Euclid: A mathematician in Ancient Greece, the father of geometry.

Freyr: A Norse god associated with fair weather, among other things.

Gandolf: A character in a 1896 fantasy novel in a pseudo-medieval countryside.

Helen: In Greek mythology, Helen of Troy was the daughter of Zeus.

Iago: Enemy of Othello in Shakespeare’s play, Othello.

Jove: The English name for Jupiter, the Roman god of light and sky.

Khan: Mongolian conqueror and emperor of the Mongol empire.

Luna: The divine embodiment of the moon in Roman mythology.

Magnus: The Father of Europe, Charlemagne the Great, in Latin: Carolus Magnus.

Nemo: A Greek boy’s name meaning "from the valley," means "nobody" in Latin.

Orko: The thunder god in Basque mythology.

Plato: Greek philosopher and mathematician, who was named by his wrestling coach.

Q: The Broadway Express subway line in New York City.

Rocky: A single mountain in the Rockies.

Saturn: Roman god of time, also the namesake of the planet Saturn in our solar system.

Triton: In Greek mythology, the messenger of the deep sea, son of Poseidon.

Ukko: In Finnish mythology, the god of the sky and weather.

Virgil: One of ancient Rome’s greatest poets.

Walda: Name from Old German meaning “ruler.”

Xerxes: The fourth king of the Persian Achaemenid Empire, Xerxes the Great.

Yogi: People who do yoga.

Zeus: In Greek mythology, the supreme ruler of Mount Olympus and the gods who lived there.

Congrats! You are now Smarter than a Fifth Grader!

Congratulations to all of you who actually read the list all the way through! It was a trip down memory lane of college lit classes of long ago (at least for me, ha).