Anyone who has ever lived along the Front Range in Colorado knows that it can get extremely windy around here from time to time. This is especially true in the winter, and gusts in excess of 70 mph are not an uncommon occurance where I live (Chicago - you got nothing on us Denver west-siders). There are two typical sources for these winds: when cold arctic systems move in from the north and the wind caused by the dropping air pressure gets trapped against the mountains (a wind-tunnel effect of sorts); or when high pressure systems from the west spill over the mountains and force any existing low pressure conditions off to the east (resulting in a chinook condition that actually ends up warming things up around here despite the gales).
I am normally a pretty light sleeper so it is not unusual for these high wind events to wake me up two or three times during the night when they are kicking things around outside (e.g. trash cans, patio furniture, etc.). Last night was no exception, the wind was howling and it ended up waking me twice. Like I said, this is not extraordinary by any means, but what struck me as strange were the times:
- The first time I woke up it was 1:23.
- The second time it was 4:56.
Very odd. I suppose it was a good thing I had to get up by 6:30 or I might have really freaked had I been awakened a third time with the clock reading 7:89.
PS - while we are on the subject of time, I learned something else this morning. 7:15 AM is far too early for me to switch on the TV to be greeted by Ted "OJ did it all wrong" Kennedy on the CBS Early Show. It nearly scared the bejabbers out of me.