Galwegians June 2020
The state of emergency in Ontario is still in effect at least until Tuesday, June 2, 2020. Therefore, no events, meetings, and/or activities will take place at the Galway Hall.. If the state of emergency is extended, any scheduled events will be either cancelled or postponed until a later date. In these times of uncertainty, keep informed about the status of listed events by visiting the Galway Hall website at: www.galwayhall.ca.
The forty days from Good Friday concluded on May 19th. The weather lore forecast of below normal temperatures (based on winds from the northwest) sure rang true. So did the drier than normal prediction (based on no precipitation on Good Friday). Our rain gauge recorded 37 mm of precipitation in the last 21 days of April and 19 mm of precipitation in the first 19 days of May. Here are some other notable observations over this forty day period: 0 days that reached average temps or above 4 days that the winds blew from the south compared to 15 days that the winds blew from the north 14 days that the winds blew from the west compared to 7 days that the winds blew from the east 11 days had either snow, snow on the ground, and/or snow pellets (also called graupel). Continuing with a look at ancient words no longer in use, anyone that jumped into one of our local bodies of water over the May Long Weekend (or before) probably could have used the Scottish word, “Curglaff”. It means “the shock felt when one first plunges into cold water”. Another Gaelic word that has found a place in the English language is “Slogan”. The origin translation of slogan is an army shout or a battle cry. During this global pandemic, there have been several examples of how the natural world can rebound when the economic engines worldwide have been shutdown. Whether it is just a coincidence or not, there have been a couple of rare sightings locally in May. One was a Baltimore (Northern) Oriole reported in at least two areas around Crystal Lake. Both observers noted that they had never seen an oriole at their places before. The second sighting was a flock of tree swallows dipping and gliding over the waters of Clear Bay. The flock had between 15 and 20 swallows. Do you know how difficult it is to count these aerial acrobats? It has been many, many years since numbers this high have been counted at one time. Stay home. Stay safe. Stay healthy. Practice physical distancing. Stay in touch.