Labels

Saturday, March 16, 2019

The Weather Chicken



        I’m always fascinated with the wildlife we encounter in our travels.  In places like Rocky Mountain National Park, we saw moose, black bear, big horn sheep and more all in a single afternoon.  Yellowstone treated us to bison, wolves, elk and pronghorn.  Carlsbad Caverns was memorable of course for the Brazilian free-tailed bats and cave swallows.  

     But sometimes you don’t even have to venture off the highway at all.  On our recent drive north through the Nevada desert to Lake Tahoe, we saw some first-time-for-us wild animals.  Wild horses and donkeys grazing upon the desert highlands, at altitudes of 5,000 ft or higher.  Snow covered land and subfreezing temperatures don’t seem to discourage these hardy creatures.  Every few minutes another small gathering of donkey would be just off the side of the road, oblivious to our 60’ monstrosity barreling down the road.  Several hundred, perhaps one thousand, wild horses were grazing in the water rich valley, clearly happy to be lakeside while surrounded by the arid mountains of the eastern Sierra Nevada's. 

     But this February we even discovered a new creature, unheard of by most.  This animal seemed highly temperamental, and particularly sensitive to cold weather.  Intentions of northern migration could be delayed indefinitely if the animal caught wind of a cold front looming beyond the horizon.  Though the official name is undecided amongst the scientific community, I have come to call this creature the Weather Chicken.

     I’ve become intimately familiar with this particular Weather Chicken’s habits this past month after monitoring just one specimen very closely.   Some say animals have an instinct for impending natural disasters and weather phenomena.  But the flightless Weather Chicken has a different skill.  When venturing into potentially cold climates during mid-winter, the Weather Chicken’s process works something like this…

Step 1: Plan on arriving in Tahoe on February 16th.  (Weather Chickens love skiing and want to maximize time on the slopes.)

Step 2: Open Accuweather App on fancy new smartphone, and observe the following news headlines:

“South Lake Tahoe drops to record low temperatures…”
“South Lake Tahoe Logs 13-below zero, shattering record!”

Step 3: Abandon all plans to travel north.

     See, the Weather Chicken has developed quite the medulla oblongata after decades of honing (I think it has something to do with all that Sudoku), and thus it subconsciously and instinctively knew there was no way in snow heaven (or more precisely, Heavenly), this Weather Chicken was driving… err, flapping… his way north into that kind of weather.  13 degrees BELOW zero?  C’mon now!  I know we’re decked out with a fancy heated water hose (super awesome, by the way – thanks Apple Fam!), but the only place I want to be when this cold front pushes through southern Nevada is in the world’s hottest location.  Conveniently located a mere hour or so away.

     And so to Death Valley we went, and yes, it maintains the record for the hottest temperature ever recorded on the planet (excluding volcanic activity of course).  

Was it warm?  Yes.  Was the Weather Chicken satisfied with its survival instinct?  Oh, yes!  His flock of little chicks and mother hen had a wonderful time experiencing what might as well have been a completely different world.  A full climate change possible in just minutes of driving.  My bare chicken legs were feeling fancy free in short shorts. 

     And when the bitter cold passed on by, we, the flock, found ourselves in Tahoe, ready for a new adventure.  Let the skiing begin!