NULL

2007-09-20 21:03:36.000 – Kyle Paddleford,  Meteorologist

An orange adrift at sea

Well today marked my first full day on the summit in three weeks. As you may have guessed this is a post vacation comment. I spent most of my time seeing friends and family, riding my bike on peaceful quiet country roads, and working at my other job in Concord, NH. Not to worry though, I didn’t let working my second job take up too much of my time because, well, I was on vacation. Perhaps the most exciting portion of my time off was being a groomsman for my long time friend Derek Bailey who tied the knot this past weekend. With rain in the forecast for the wedding day things did not look good but luckily the skies parted, the rain stopped, and the sun brightened the ceremony and the spirits of all who were there.

I had a wonderful and relaxing break, but it is great to be back (that probably goes without saying). Wednesday was beautiful and very warm. The temperature reached 65 degrees which set a new daily record high, breaking the old record of 61 degrees set in the years of 1955 and 2002. We have equaled high temperature records this summer, but this is the first time a record was broken during the summer season. We brought out an old telescope last night and viewed the moon and its many craters clearly. This morning, there was another great sunrise and this evening a great sunset. I could get used to not seeing the fog, but as we all know, it is always lurking and ready to engulf the summit.

It was not too tough to get back into the swing of things, but I must admit I was a bit worried at first. The toughest part, although very rewarding, was rising out of bed before the sun did. I really got used to not hearing an alarm clock over the past few weeks, but it has made a noisy and sometimes startling return to my life. I did have some welcomed help with my morning routine as Karen volunteered to do the morning AMC hut/weather call. She has worked for the AMC for a few years and has always been on the other end of the radio calls. Now she was the one disseminating the information, and she did a great job. I could get used to that…hint, hint. Now if I can only avoid the cold that seems to be going around up here I will be all set.

Kyle Paddleford,  Meteorologist