Why I Blog

First Admendment to the US Constitution

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

Ever wonder why I am so enthusiastic about blogging? Why I take time to call people to get an edge on a topic that I believe you will find interesting when written about?

Well, I do enjoy writing! And it is my right as a US citizen, so says the US Constitution. I also believe with my heart and soul that if our kids learn to master our language, they will make a good living in whatever that chose to do. That will be my message when I soon visit Melinda Feltner’s 4th grade class in Louisa. “Master the Lanuage Arts”, I will hit home.

This from a scientist who finds the Pythagorean Theorem and Newton’s Laws of Physics as stimulating as watching the Nittany Lions climb to number 6 in the football polls! Of course, I have an edge on most football fans since I will have a good idea what the weather will be in Pasadena on New Years Day when the Nits and I are in California for the 2009 Rose Bowl . Sorry Buckeye fans!

And that is why I blog; namely, to give you an edge in your life or just to stimulate your brain or yes to stir up the waters (like that comment about OSU). You see if you write and nobody cares, then have you really written at all?

Now it’s back onto my soap box about mastering the English language. Since the Language Arts encompass four facets, I stress it is important for our kids to master the arts of speaking, writing, reading and computing our language if they are to succeed.

Now I am not an accomplished newspaper columnist like my friends Ernie Salvatore or Dave Walsh at the H.D., so I must find other avenues to showcase my writing skills. Here at wsaz.com, I have the perfect venue to accomplish that goal. You see I enjoy blogging as many as 5 times a week.

Of course, not everyone is sold on blogging as a legitimate form of written expression. In fact, in my Webster’s Dictionary (copyright 1995), blogging is not yet a word. One local newpaper author/editor/publisher is among the skeptics. “Blogging is one of the worst things to happen to the written word”, so said Don Hatfield, the former editor of the Herald Dispatch. Hatfield was the guest speaker of the St.Joe’s Church Men’s Service Club on Monday night.

Hatfield went on to clarify his words by adding that the proliferation of people who blog but do not have a factual base bothers him. Don hinted that those same bloggers who write without substance to their prose are also un-proofed which makes much of what they write and we read useless.

Which brings me to tonight’s prose. I strive every night to write a thought provocating, factual account of some weather event. Since tomorrow's weather is never known for sure (just look at my forecast for a wet Coal Bowl), my blog is often futuristic.

Take tonight at 6 when I hit home the notion that Huntington is now just 1 day away from the driest September ever. As of this Monday evening, only .07” (7 one-hundreths of an inch) of rain has fallen this month. If you were at the Greek Festival on Saturday afternoon around 5, you know well that a sudden downpour must have dropped at least quarter of an inch of rain.

But since that downpour missed the Huntington Tri-State airport where we keep our official measurements, the dry record stands! In effect, that cloudburst did not count. And there-in is the paradox of this blog. You see some will say I missed the boat on Saturday's forecast and therefore should be censored.

But the savvy reader who watches/reads me every day knows that weather varys county to county, city to city and sometimes even street to street. Those small scale weather discrepancies simply are not detectable until they are actually occuring.

Meanwhile in Charleston, it did indeed rain for 5 hours as expected on Saturday. Just ask the folks who watched the Friends of Coal Bowl on the big screen at a soggy Appy Power Park. There my forecast was spot on.

OK, what about Tuesday you ask? Well, a fast moving autumn cold front will be crossing the region with more wind than rain. That same front delayed the big baseball game on the south side of Chi-town for 3 hours today.

But that front is somewhat moisture starved , so while a few gusty squalls will form and produce a quick burst of wind and rain, the action looks to be scattered in Kentucky and Ohio before coalescing into a solid band of rain in the West Virignia mountains. Pinpointing when and where these cells occur will be a short term radar problem to figure out! I for one will be watching Marina and Josh on Tuesday for the latest!