I KEEP GETTING THESE STUPID WEATHER ALERTS ON MY iPHONE: Just this week:

A moderate severity wind alert: "sustained winds 10-20 mph; gusts to 30 mph." When I lived in the desert areas of New Mexico and California that that was called a 'light breeze'.

A moderate severity freeze warning: "sub-freezing temperatures expected as low as 32F". Last I checked, 'subfreezing' meant below 32F (usually well below).

The source for all this nonsense is our very own National Weather Service. Anyone (besides me) for cutting their funding?

IF THE U.S. WON'T STRIKE BACK, MAYBE ISRAEL WILL: Israel is on high alert in the aftermath of an airstrike that killed an Iranian general earlier this week, prepping its defenses against a possible retaliatory strike.

WATCH WHAT HAPPENS when a Virginia police officer comes upon a street takeover. It's in Springfield, Virginia, one of the wealthiest and most Democratic counties in the country.

The comments are not kind, and they give you a sense of what's to come.

THEY HAVE NO PLACE TO GO: Bureaucrats hunker down to protect themselves in anticipation of a Trump victory.

They'll die without the government teat to support them.

SON OF HAMAS COMMANDER delivers takedown of pro-Hamas activist:

There is no difference between Hamas and the so-called ‘Palestinians’, as the vast majority of them support Hamas.... There are no ‘Palestinian’ people. There are conflicted tribes, and without Israel as the common enemy, they would kill each other.

Read it all.

FINALLY SPRING, WEEK 5: Kinda-sorta on time this week. Not much has happened weatherwise. Here's the usual pond photo:

Brighter than last week, clearly, and the tulip magnolia has pretty much lost all it's blossoms, but the leaves have started to come out finally. We're on the way to summer.

The dogwoods are finally coming out of hiding. These outside our kitchen window have just begun to bud; hopefully we'll have more by next week.

Further down the hill toward the creek there are more dogwood trees, and they've now begun to come out of hibernation a bit early. Usually the trees leaf first, hiding the dogwoods from view.

The fire pit view is next, and nothing much has happened. Trees behind it are still mostly bare, though there are fits-and-starts beginning to show.

Along the road, the trees are beginning to show life at the very tops. Certainly the greenish pollen that comes with every spring has begun to show up on the cars, though it certainly hasn't reached its peak.

Until next week....