One Year

One year has elapsed since my graduation from Valparaiso University on Sunday, May 19, 2013.  It was the day I became an alumnus of that inestimable and beloved institution, and the event that inspired the launch of this blog.

What a year it's been!  And how wonderful to have the opportunity to use this blog as a means to chronicle what's going on with me, so that those I know well from my ValpU days can continue following what's going on with me, as well as using it as a canvass to express my other musings on the happenings in the world.

At this point in time, I'm certainly thankful for the job I have.  It's pretty straightforward work, but there's many interesting moments.  While making hundreds of phone calls a day, I've talked with CEOs, police officers, school district superintendents, and people who work at other well-known companies, like Coca-Cola and Best Buy.  All the while, I criss-cross the country--it's like going on a trip while sitting in place for a few hours each day.  I'm glad that it has provided me a good way to start out my post-college career.

But I hold firmly that my life isn't just about the job that gives me a paycheck.  And there's a lot that has happened with me beyond work.  Throughout this year, I've done a little traveling, been on live television, stood up for important causes, and explored sights in Chicagoland.  (The weather has also provided me some interesting things to observe.)

And after being away on a long-term basis for 4 years, I have also been able to reconnect with this place I call home in Oak Park, and with my family, day by day.  I've enjoyed the many times I've spent with extended family, too.

My college years gave me a new found appreciation for, and deepening of, my faith life.  In this past year, I am so fortunate to have had plenty of opportunities to channel that deepened faith life with involvement in church ministries.  Indeed, I need two hands to count all those ministries I'm involved in: lectoring, the Art and Environment Committee, Eucharistic ministry, serving as thurifer, joining in RCIA meeting discussions, Religious Education, and Confirmation preparation.  The first two are ones I've been involved with for many years.  The others have come up more recently.  The last two have been especially meaningful channels for my expressions of faith.  They've also allowed me to take stock of my personal growth, and how I can manifest my maturity while putting my understanding of faith in dialogue with the teens I'm guiding teens in their own respective faith journeys.  In my heart, it is undeniable that my involvement in church ministries is an important part of my life, and is something I will definitely plan on continuing to include among the many things I do.

In this past year, I've also really enjoyed being a ValpU alumnus, and those opportunities I've had to meet with other alumni, in which I sense that special connection.  One enjoyable opportunity I've had is the Christ College alumni reading group I've met with during this "spring semester" period, which is one of the ways Christ College keeps alumni engaged with the CC community.  These monthly meetings have been a great way to discuss some literature in an intellectual way, and chat about our lives, and things about campus, past and present.  What's great is that I have a connection with these people I had never met before by virtue of our shared experience of once being students on campus.

Being an alumnus makes me realize that, in a way, I've never really left the university community.  I fully understand that I have simply changed my role to participating in a new way.  I am no longer a student on campus day after day, involved in studies and other activities.  But I still remain involved in what happens on campus, the heart of this community.  I still follow what's happening on campus, and touch base with my friends who continue with their time there.  It has especially been a pleasure to return to campus on a few occasions to visit with people there.  The strong bonds I formed with people, in the midst of various circumstances, allow me to settle back in with people as if I've never parted from them.

By viture of these strong bonds, I still feel deeply connected to the community.  There's almost something mysterious and mystical about those connections I retain with Valparaiso University, in a way that's kind of hard to explain.  I find myself constantly thinking about the friends I made, even praying for them.  I still care about them, and what's happening with them as they live their lives as students.  I feel somehow present with them, as if I haven't really parted from them.  It makes me realize what I sensed during the graduation ceremony one year ago, and what made it an emotional time:  Something very profound happened during those four years on the "Fields of Valparaiso".  The impact the experiences and people had on me stay with me constantly, having shaped who I am as a person, and how I live my life in the present.  I ponder these things all the time, unceasingly drawn to them.

That is why I have much reason to celebrate one year later.  I had an extraordinary experience there at Valparaiso University, and it is something I carry with me every day, in a deep way.

An Example Especially Shining

May 18 is the birthday of St. Pope John Paul II, the first birthday since his canonization on April 27, 2014.

He was born in 1920 as Karol Wojtyla in Wadowice, Poland.  And he has quite a life story.

With a lot of famous people, I became only aware of their stories and significant contributions in the world upon hearing news reports of their deaths.  But that was a trend that started to change, for with John Paul II, I became fully aware of his story in October 2003, when he marked the 25th year of his pontificate.

He certainly took the papacy into an enhanced role.  He took an active role in standing against communism.  He also traveled all over the world, meeting with the masses and reaching out to embrace the people in a whole new way.  (Much of this came in the wake of Vatican II and the changes in brought about in the Roman Catholic Church.  St. Pope John XXIII was the one who convened the conference.  While I am not as familiar with his life story, I know that my experiences in the Roman Catholic Church have been shaped by what he did.)

The one thing that really stands out to me about St. Pope John Paul II is the way he displayed a profound respect for humanity.

One of the first stories I encountered about him, a few years before his Silver Jubilee, was about the attempt on his life in 1981.  Some time after he had been wounded in an assassination attempt, he went to the prison where his would-be assassin was being held to meet with him, to offer him forgiveness.  That is a powerful example of what forgiveness means in the life of faith.

This was one of the stories featured in a movie that came out on CBS not long after his death in 2005.  But there was another story in the movie that stood out to me even more, which happened earlier in his life.  In the midst of World War II, when the Nazis controlled Poland, and placed restrictions on church practices, Karol Wojtyla decided to become a priest.  He and his fellow seminarians had to study for the priesthood in secret because the Nazis forbid ordinations.

The movie shows a scene where he and his friend are out at night, sneaking around, though I don't fully remember why.  Karol is shown stooping over a Nazi soldier, asking God to offer him forgiveness as the guard lay dying, having been mortally wounded by his friend with a knife.  The friend did this, reasoning the soldier was in the way of what they were doing.

Then, Karol rebukes his friend for what he did.  His friend retorts that the two he killed were Nazis.  Karol replies, "They were human beings."  That scene struck me in a deep way: to think that even in a harrowing time as this, Karol could see past the evil connotation of these Nazi guards, and see them as fellow human beings, who deserved respect and the love of God.

That inspired me to want to cultivate a deeper respect and love for fellow people, seeing them as God sees them, through the eyes of faith.

So we give thanks to God now that Pope John Paul II shines Above as a great example for us as, having been declared a Saint in the presence of God Almighty.

The Paschal Mystery Version 2014

We are in the midst of the Easter Season.  During this time, the neophytes who were baptized on Holy Saturday night are continuing their faith formation in what's known as the Mystagogia period, as they ponder the mystery they celebrated during the Triduum and at their baptism.

And I find myself pondering this mystery, having been renewed in it so powerfully.  The Paschal Triduum is definitely my favorite time of the liturgical year.  These three sacred days are at the heart of what it means to be Christian, and that's why I value so greatly the opportunity to participate in the liturgies that allow me to experience once again Christ's Paschal Mystery, which is not something that happened to Christ once upon a time many years ago, but is something happening all the time in the lives of His people.

I have heard it said that the best way to observe the Triduum is to let the liturgies speak for themselves.  As I think about that insight, I ponder how God spoke to me through this past Triduum 2014.  I certainly have my favorite moments that I especially look forward to each year during the Triduum.  But for this reflection, I shall focus on a few select moments when something spoke to me in a new way:

On Maundy Thursday evening, I felt myself uplifted with the opening hymn, "We Should Glory in the Cross of the Lord Jesus Christ".  The lyrics fully speak to what is celebrated in these three days.

Then came the foot washing liturgy.  Somehow, this year, witnessing this ritual allowed me to see it anew as a powerful symbol for how we serve one another in the love that Christ commands of His disciples.  It is a symbol lived out in the many ways we serve, and that made me think about all the opportunities I've had to serve in the parish community and elsewhere in the past few months.

The other song sung during this Mass that is one of my Triduum highlights comes at the conclusion: "Pange Lingua" is sung when the consecrated bread is carried in procession to the side altar tabernacle.  The song acclaims Christ's sacred body, which is part of the New Covenant in which we stand.  Hearing the hauntingly beautiful and mystical melody flowing with the words that spoke of the New Covenant in Christ's sacred body and blood struck an emotional chord in me enough that I felt tears well up in my eyes.

The next day, on Cross Friday, I went over to St. Mary of Celle Parish in northern Berwyn in the afternoon for their liturgy commemorating the Passion of Christ.  I would go to this same liturgy at Ascension later in the evening that day, but at this afternoon liturgy, the principle part of the service was a reenactment of the Passion of Jesus Christ.  St. Mary of Celle is a bilingual parish, so the words of the Passion were in both English and Spanish, as was the rest of the service.

It started out in the Church, with the agony in Gethsemane, and then up until the condemnation of Jesus, and His being led out to Calvary.  At that point, everyone in the Church went outside, and then followed Jesus with the Cross as it rounded the streets around the parish.  There were stops made along the way for readings, prayers, and songs, which were in accordance with some of the Stations of the Cross.  A car moved slowly along in the procession, where the musicians were positioned inside, and speakers sounded out their music.  This procession, in following the way of the Cross, spoke greatly to how we live the Paschal Mystery for ourselves in our present age, in our own lives.

We then went back into the Church for the scene of the crucifixion.  After the reenactment ended, we had the opportunity to venerate the Cross, the same one used in the crucifixion reenactment, representing the instrument God used to win our salvation.

The participants in the reenactment did a masterful job, especially given all the logistics involved in using both the church sanctuary and the surrounding streets to stage it all.

Later, in the evening, I went to the Liturgy of the Passion of the Lord at Ascension.  I was one of the readers for the Gospel proclamation, which is the Passion narrative from John.  As I always do when I have a lectoring engagement, I take time to look over the reading,  and practice it, taking heed of suggestions for proclamation in my lector workbook.  I proclaimed the part of John 18 from the verse 1 until Jesus was led away from the Garden.  I looked over the suggestions, and colored the tone of words and gave the words other dynamics as I prepared.

The next night, at the reception after the Easter Vigil, a woman came up to me and complimented me on my reading on Friday evening.  She then added that the story of Jesus's crucifixion is a hard one to deal with, but the way it was read helped in processing it and gave it meaning.  And that is exactly what I sought out to do, add meaning to this sorrowful, but important story.  Jesus could not rise from the dead if He didn't die first, which is why Easter Sunday can't be appreciated without Good Friday.  Furthermore, the commentary in the lector workbook enlightened me about John's overarching purpose in His Gospel, which is reflected in the way the Passion narrative is crafted.  John takes the perspective that Jesus was fully aware of His part in God's plan of salvation, and willingly accepted it, mounting up on the Cross as if He was sitting down on His throne.  Some of the other verbage in John's Passion narrative shows that Jesus is fully aware of what's happening, and fully accepting of it.  (That's why the Passion narrative in John doesn't include the agony in Gethsemane.  The synoptic Gospels include that to show how Jesus had to struggle to accept His sufferings as part of God's plan.)

The other part of Friday's liturgy that struck me anew was the very solemn nature of the Intercessions.  They are very ritualized, and I felt moved inwardly as I went through the gestures of kneeling and standing, singing the chant of Kyrie Eleison, and hearing the chant of the second part of the prayers by Father Bob, the presider, after the reading of the first part of the intercession.

At the Easter Vigil on Holy Saturday night, I noticed how dark the church remained right up until the Epistle reading from Romans, which I hadn't every really noticed as much before, thinking the lights came on more gradually.  We were truly anticipating the coming of the Great and Glorious Light.

After the reading from Romans, there was a silence.  I actively waited in it, knowing that something great was about to happen; so I really took in that silence.  Then, the church bells started ringing, and the congregation rose as David Anderson, the music director, started up leading us in the Great Alleluia acclamation.  Hearing that drawn out "Alleluia" struck an emotional chord in me strongly, and tears welled in my eyes.  We had come again to that great and joyful moment of celebration, acclaiming Christ Risen, who once was dead, and we ourselves, once dead, and in the process of dying to ourselves through Lenten practices, rising to Life Anew in Him.

Later on in the service, the pastoral associate, a great guy named David Philippart, asked my Dad and I to help pass out the baskets for the collection.  That took me to the back of Church, where all the money is put in one big basket, and then taken up with the elements that are to be consecrated.  The four newly baptized adults were in back, ready to take up the gifts.

I had gotten involved with their journey toward the font when David P. had invited me as fully communicated Roman Catholic to come to their faith formation meetings on Sundays to join in their discussions of the Scriptures and faith.  It was a distinct pleasure getting to know them along the way, and then to see them receive the sacraments of Initiation in that great celebration on that Holy Saturday night, becoming new Creations in Christ.  So I made good of this opportunity to hug them as a sign of congratulations and welcome into their new Life in Christ in His Church.  In the midst of all the ritual and pomp of the Triduum liturgies, this was one of the more personal moments that I relished.  (Earlier that day, when I attended Morning Prayer, all those present gathered around the altar, and then laid hands on the heads of the elect, as a sign of support and blessing.)

Later on in the service, I served as a Eucharistic minister.  As someone who recently started in this ministry, it was special to have this opportunity to participate in ministering the elements that are part of what we saw now as a great victory feast, having celebrated Christ's Resurrection.

The next morning, on Resurrection Sunday, everything was so alive at Church.  There was excitement in the air, and even the Church seemed to be more full of light than usual.  Even those who had been at Church for so many hours over the past few days and were exhausted from the night before were upbeat.  And the weather outside made it feel all the more delightful.  It was a beautiful celebration, so full of a sense of aliveness.  And I was pretty active, serving as thurifer, swinging about the thurible with the incense as we offered our praises to the victorious Risen Christ.  (When I went up for Communion, David P. handed me the cup ritually, and after I partook, he told me to go minister it.)

In the recessional, I carried one of the special parish banners out.  When the three of us banner-bearers reached the back of Church, we paused, not really sure where to go next.  Then one of the others said we should go outside.  So we did, and stood there at the doors as the jubilant throngs streamed out into the wonderfully warm, sunny morning.  Father Bob, who presided at the Mass I attended, handed out candy to the children, and there was another Franciscan priest there, in his habit, and donning bunny ears on his head.

In the midst of all these celebrations, a thought came to my mind:  In His unfolding plan of salvation for us, celebrated so intensely and richly during these three days, God truly showed His great love for us.  Love was truly present when Christ gave us of His Body and Blood.  Love was truly present when Christ suffered and died on the Cross.  Love was truly present when Christ rose again to new life.  Christ took His part in this plan of salvation that had been unfolding since sin entered the world, and brought it to a sense of fulfillment, and love was truly present.

Now alive in Life Anew with Christ, we possess this love within us, even as the Holy Spirit moves in us to love as God loves, which we have the opportunity to celebrate as God's promise and gift to us later on during the Feasts of the Ascension and Pentecost.

Love is truly at the heart of this great mystery, which has freed us from sin, and now given us this new life, now in Christ, who is God, who is Love.

So as the words of the opening antiphon for Maundy Thursday so powerfully acclaim, we glory in the Cross of Jesus Christ, our Savior, because He is our Life and Resurrection, who has truly saved and freed us.

Signed, Sealed, and Delivered

A significant date has come and gone for the people of Illinois.

On May 1, 2014, the Independent Maps campaign, sponsoring an amendment to the Illinois state constitution, submitted the paperwork to the Illinois State Board of Elections to get the measure on the ballot in November 2014, including over 532,000 signatures, well over the minimum of 298,000.  The amendment, upon approval by Illinois voters, will create an independent commission charged with the task of redrawing the legislative districts in Illinois every 10 years.

From December to April, I took my part to help the campaign by collecting signatures.

When I first heard about the efforts of this campaign to get the Illinois State Constitution amended to change the process of legislative redistricting, I was very pleased, and I thought it was a fantastic idea.  I saw it as an effort to take this task away from partisan interests and give the voters more power in their own government.

I was eager to sign the petitions being circulated to get the amendment up for a vote in November 2014.  But then I looked to do more.  So I requested petitions from the campaign so I could circulate them myself.  Thinking that each sheet had 10 signature spaces, I requested 3, so I would collect 30 signatures.  As it turns out, each sheet had 15, so I had to get 45.  But then, because of a goof-up with the request I sent to the campaign, I ended up with 7 petition sheets.  I gave a couple to a neighbor who enthusiastically wanted to circulate some himself.

All in all, since December, I managed to get 75 signatures.  It was a good opportunity for me to get out and about seeking people who would sign.

A few instances, I went out in the general public to get signatures, which was how I brought it to the attention of the aforementioned neighbor.  A lot of the signatures I got from asking people in my own circles, including family, friends, co-workers, neighbors, and others I know in the community.  It was a good opportunity for me to talk about the campaign with people, refining my communication skills as I explained to people what the campaign is about, and what impact it could have, not to mention work on promoting something I feel strongly about.

It was also interesting to watch people's various reactions.  One person openly expressed skepticism that this would do anything--but agreed to sign it anyway.  Some people shrugged and then signed, not really understanding what effect this would have. Others were glad to sign the sheets I had.  And still others readily agreed with the idea behind the campaign and eagerly signed.

After all the efforts to get signatures, I sensed a grand feeling within me walking into my bank to get the petition sheets notarized--another opportunity, that of the process of notarizing documents.  A couple of days later, I mailed those sheets to the campaign headquarters to be counted along with thousands of other signatures.

So the campaign has made an important advance.  Now it's on to the work of promoting it so that the voters of Illinois will approve it come November.  So be on the look out for it.  In the meantime, you can find out more information at independentmaps.org.

Throughout it all, I can say it has been great to be part of an effort where people are motivated to solve a problem with a real, substantial solution.  It's about the people shaping their government to be truly theirs, because that's the American way.

"But Soft!", a Tribute

This day, April 23, 2014, marks 150 years since the birth of William Shakespeare, the English playwright whose works are considered a masterpiece in the canon of English writings.

Throughout my years in school, I spent time with various Shakespearean play texts, and I enjoyed reading the stories of times gone by, learning about the cultural context, and having fun with the language.  I like the elegant nature of the language, especially all those "But soft" phrases.  And I still have fun when it comes to Shakespearean insult generators, because those insults are much more sophisticated than the string of profanity and other blandities uttered by most people in this present era.  (Try it for yourself.  Just google "Shakespearean insult generator".  And yes, I just wrote "blandities", making up the word to suit my purposes here, just as William himself would make up words to fit his purposes in writing.)

It all started for me in 5th grade, when we as a class read Romeo and Juliet as we finished up the year.  I remember that the last official day of school in District 97 during my years there was one-hour long, and I spent that last hour of 5th grade, my last as a student at Washington Irving Elementary School, reading the entirety of Act 5 of the woeful tale of two lovers.

Just before, or around this time, VeggieTales's version of Hamlet came out, "Omelet", which seemed to capture some elements of the original story in a clever way for the message it was trying to get across about sharing.

Then, starting in 7th grade, I read one play every school year until my freshman year of college, with the exception of my junior year of high school.  My 7th grade language arts teacher, Mr. Gates, was a big fan of Shakespeare, and we read The Tempest.  A memorable collection of lines was recited dramatically at the Opening Ceremony of the 2012 London Olympic Games, speaking of not fearing the isles with its noises and its delights and dream.

In 8th grade, in language arts class, the class divided into small groups, with each student having chose one of two plays to read.  I chose A Midsummer Night's Dream, which had some good humor, like the part when the man turns into a donkey.  The other choice was Julius Caesar, a video version of which I watched later so I could have the experience of it, with all its ancient Roman pageantry.

During 8th grade, we also went to Navy Pier's Chicago Shakespeare Theater, a fabulous institution we have in town, for A Comedy of Errors, which is certainly a humorous story of twin brothers stumbling over each other.  There was also the twist of its backdrop being a staging by a theater company during the Great Depression, with its more simplistic props and costumes.  I saw the same play staging again just last summer outdoors on a stifling August day in the grassy area by the Garfield Park Conservatory, as part of the theater company's tour of staging the play at various city parks in Chicago.

I re-visited Romeo and Juliet freshman year of high school.  My teacher, Ms. Kinnan, had us memorize the opening lines, and on the day we had our quiz on them, as my fellow classmates were reciting them to make sure they had them down, she remarked how wonderful it was to have a room full of students reciting Shakespeare, which was an overall part of our "frolicking in the garden of language".  Two memorable scenes I remember from that time where the monolgue on Queen Mab, and the line about drawing Dun from the mire, which I guess was some kind of game.  (Ms. Kinnan also pointed out the masterpiece of a metaphor: Juliet in that night was like a jewel in an Ethiopian's ear.)

We did a pretty good study of Macbeth during my sophomore year in Ms. Kaufman's class.  Beforehand, we went to a theater in Lakeview to see a production of it, which was a pretty good outing.  During our time with it, we acted out the scenes in class, which climaxed in a dramatic "duel", during which two students had the idea to be stunt doubles while two others read the dialogue.  After our study of it, I remember writing a fantastic essay, which was a pretend report of my investigations into the events that occurred.  (One part I found interesting was the litany of items put into the witches' cauldron, including the newt's eye and especially the bat's wool.)

Despite the hiatus my junior year, I made a point to listen to The Merchant of Venice on tape as a summer read, as I was supposed to have read that in an earlier school year.  It's interesting to note that despite its sobering aspects, like taking the pound of flesh, it is considered a comedy because the ending is good for its protagonist.

Senior year of high school, we did King Lear.  We watched pieces of a video version in class, with some props that my teacher, Mr. Heidkamp, described as very bare bones, especially the scene with the map at the beginning, which is rolled out in front of the king.

We did a quick run through Antony and Cleopatra my freshman year of college in the Christ College freshman program.  It was mentioned that the play has complex staging with all its scenes, especially in the battling toward the end.  We also had a very memorable plenary lecture, in which English professor and Assistant Provost Renu Juneja gave a talk in which she tried to convince us that Marc Antony and Cleopatra were not conceited, but instead were passionate lovers.  When some students tried to suggest otherwise, she got kind of incensed while openly expressed her disagreement.

So yes, it has been a marvelous run enjoying some Shakespeare works all these years, full of variety, disorder, and other charms.  Here's to the master playwright who made it all possible.

Impactful Weather

On Saturday, April 5, I made the trek to Fermilab in Batavia for the Annual Fermilab/WGN Severe Weather/Tornado Seminar.  This event is always a great opportunity for people from the general public to come out and attend presentations given by meteorology professionals, especially the renowned Tom Skilling, who MCs the event.  He has such a bright, bubbly persona, and showed forth such enthusiasm in his remarks before and after each presentation.

At the beginning, Governor Pat Quinn (D-IL) gave a few remarks about severe weather preparedness.  This is certainly an important topic featured in the discussion, helping people be ready to respond to such situations in their own communities.

One big focus within the seminar was on computer modelling, which has played a substantial role in helping to understand what's happening in the atmosphere, and especially in forecasting the weather.  Dr. Donna Cox of the University of Illinois, who has worked to develop graphical displays for computer models, spoke about the supercomputer at the U of I.

Dr. Louis Uccellini, director of the National Weather Service, and good friend of Tom Skilling, also spoke about computer models in his presentation.  He then went on to talk about climate change, which led into his analysis of some severe weather events and their impact on communities, including a derecho event in late June 2012 that affected the Washington, DC, area.

He also talked about the Weather Ready Nation initiative and its program to recognize ambassadors, individuals or organizations that help promote severe weather preparedness.  During his presentation, Dr. Uccellini recognized both Fermilab and Tom Skilling for their efforts in promoting preparedness by hosting this seminar for years.  This was one of those rare moments--as Dr. Uccellini puts it--when Tom Skilling went speechless.  (Dr. Uccellini has also said that computer modelling is one of the most significant scientific advances, up there with the polio vaccine, because of its role in weather forecasting and helping protect life and property.)

Climate change was a big focus in the presentation given by Dr. Donald Wuebbles.  He focused on how climate change is really happening and affecting severe weather events, delving into the latest research that's showing trends.

Tom Skilling also gave a presentation, talking about the extreme weather the Chicagoland area has experienced recently, and what' behind it all.  He used to be a climate change (or global warming) skeptic, but did an about-face after, as he puts it, he saw the drastic changes in ice coverage in the higher latitudes, in the Arctic and Antarctica.  Like last year, climate change had a big part in the presentations given at the seminar.

After a break, the focus turned more specifically to severe weather. Russell Schneider, director of the Storm Prediction Center, talked about the role SPC plays in helping to forecast severe weather situations.

Then, there were two presentations on the November 17, 2013, severe weather outbreak in Illinois, which included a tornado that devastated the town of Washington, IL, both given by employees at the NWS Chicago Forecast Office.  Matt Friedlin, a forecaster there, talked about the meteorological set-up for the event, which included some very unusual circumstances for November.  Ed Fenelon talked about the social response and impact of the event.

Brian Smith, Warning Coordination Meteorologist at the NWS Omaha Forecast Office in Valley, NE, talked about tornadoes, going through various misconceptions about them.

The presentations were chock-full of good information, delving deeply in to the science behind something that has real impacts on people.

It was a good opportunity to be there for the presentations.  But an especially good moment for me came toward the end of the seminar, when Dr. Uccellini stepped out into the cafeteria area for a snack, where I was, and I had the opportunity to chat with him briefly, before Russ Schneider, and another, came out to get him, and I spoke with Russ briefly, too.  The opportunity to interact with important people in the meteorology community is definitely a highlight of this event.

Winter's Punch and Spring's Signs

It's been an interesting past couple of months as we've transitioned in fits and starts from winter to spring.  There is no doubt that for much of the United States, this winter has certainly packed quite a punch, especially once January came around.  The punch continued throughout February, and is still being felt even as we start Marching out of this month, while signs of spring have been abounding slowly but surely.

The first sign of spring I experienced was not in the Chicago area, but in Atlanta, when I was there at the beginning of February for the AMS meeting.  Remember, they had just had a major winter storm with snow and ice that shut down their Metro area a few days before I was there in the closing days of January.  Being there was like experiencing spring coming alive after winter.  On the evening of February 2, I found myself in 70-degree temperatures.  Just 3 days later, back in Chicagoland, I was out shoveling snow around my family's house property.

The next week, the South got hit again with yet another major winter storm.  Two different weather systems moved through the area between February 11-13.  Cold air rushed in, and so did air with lots of moisture.  There were significant snow accumulations to areas closer to the Appalachians.  While areas closer to the Atlantic Ocean, like central South Carolina, received significant ice accumulation, being in a transition zone where the temperatures in a layer from cloud base to the ground allowed for rain to fall, which froze on surfaces with below freezing temperatures.  Atlanta was ready to do it right this time around, but that wasn't so much the case in Charlotte, NC.

The one thing that really stuck out to me was when I went to the NWS website, and noticed ALL of the South Carolina was blanketed by a State of Emergency, with a Civil Emergency Message urging people to limit all travel because the ice accumulation would be significant enough to render going anywhere hazardous.  You can read a summary of this event on this page on the website of the National Weather Service's Weather Forecast Office in Columbia, SC: http://www.erh.noaa.gov/cae/Events/Feb2014SnowIceStorm/SnowIceEvent.php

The week after that, on Presidents' Day, there was quite a snow event in the Chicago area.  While coming home from work, I caught this incredible image of a CTA train pulling east out of the Oak Park Blue Line station:

A couple of days later, I woke up and saw lightning and heard thunder--that's something that certainly makes us think of spring's advent.  A weather system moved toward the area, with moisture-laden air.  Some areas further north in Illinois received wet snow, but rain everywhere else in the Chicagoland area.  The air was so moist that there was thick fog in place Thursday evening.  Further south in Illinois, there were severe thunderstorms.  You can read more about this event on this page on the National Weather Service Chicago(land) Forecast Office website: http://www.crh.noaa.gov/news/display_cmsstory.php?wfo=lot&storyid=97146&source=2

The notable thing about these weather systems was that moisture was drawn into them from the Gulf of Mexico.  Before this, all the snow events we experienced in Chicagoland were due to Albert Clippers, low pressure systems that dive southeast out of Canada toward the Great Lakes/Midwest region.  These Alberta Clippers lacked lots of moisture, so we got lots of white, powdery snow.  But the weather systems during this week in February involved lots more moisture, which meant heavy, wet snow, like the "heart-attack" kind of snow.

On back to back Wednesdays in March, the 5th and 12th, there were snows in the Chicago area during the morning hours.

Even in the morning of March 20, hours before the Vernal Equinox at 11:57 AM CDT, or 1657 Z/UTC, if you prefer, there was snow.  But that soon gave way to sunny skies, and another sign of spring: maple tree tapping and maple syrup making.  In Cummings Square in River Forest, just a stone's throw away from where I work, there was a Taste of Maple Syrup Festival.  They showed the process of tapping the trees, and then boiling the sap down into sugar, a laborious process to get the very watery sap into a substance with a precise 66% concentration of sugar.

Above is the maple sap being boiled, and below is a close-up of the sap's boiling.  This boiling apparently can take 8-10 hours to get it to the right concentration of sugar.

 

Sap filling these 40 gallon containers become one gallon of syrup

The winter has flexed its muscle well into March, going even into the last full week, with cold temperatures , and snowfall in the early morning hours of the 25th, and some flakes mixed in with rain on the morning of the 27th.  While these conditions are possible in this part of the world at this time of year, these kinds of conditions are undoubtedly wintry.

But the persistent cold did not prevent an annual Chicago tradition: the dyeing of the Chicago River green.

And yes, an orange-colored powder is poured into river to make it that lovely shade of green.

Indeed, this transition is occurring slowly but surely.  But I say that the sun will soon works its magic.  The sun angle is already increasing, accompanied by longer amounts of daylight.  That means more solar radiation, translating into warmer temperatures, and the spring and summer weather we delight in.  So as long as there's no cataclysmic event like a major volcanic eruption that throws particles high into the atmosphere to block out the sun's light, we will soon experience the progression of the natural cycle into warmer weather, even as we already see signs of it.