Nexus - 0203 - New Times Magazine-pages

Page Content (OCR)

a Brae. Whatever the explanation, the phe- nomenon is not unique to Croy; there are similar places all over the world. One example can be found on the road to Jerusalem near the village of Djabal Moukaber, Israel. And on Mystery Hill, a small area between Boone and Blowing rock, North Carolina, a river reportedly flows north and apple trees grow into the prevailing winds, seemingly in complete defiance of the laws of nature. In an letter to a magazine, a British visi- tor to Canada described how an uncle had taken him to "a rather unusual but fascinat- ing place" near Vancouver. "He parked his huge station wagon on a bumpy road with a steep gradient, and then took the key out of the ignition and released the handbrake. There were eight of us in the car but, to my astonishment, it nevertheless began to move - uphill. My uncle then poured some water from a nearby stream onto the sur- face of the road, and this too began to flow uphill.” The best-known example in North America is Magnetic Hill at Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada. According to local legend, its mysterious properties were first noticed in the 1930's when a milkman stopped his horse and cart at the bottom to make a delivery. When he returned, to his astonishment he found that both horse and cart had drifted halfway "up" the hill. GRAVITY "FALLS UP" Motorists driving along Croy Brae in Strathclyde, Scotland, sooner or later usu- ally slow down - or stop completely - in utter confusion. For Croy Brae is one of the most disorienting places on earth. Approaching the brae ("hill") from the north is an uncanny experience. The road appears to slope downward, and drivers assume that the slope will accelerate the vehicle. Yet if they slow down, they are likely to grind to a complete halt. Despite every appearance to the con- trary, the road runs uphill, not downhill. Unable to believe what has happened, many motorists stop, only to find that their cars begin to slide backward, "uphill". Travelers who are approaching from the south experience a similar topsy-turvy sen- sation. Thinking they are heading uphill they accelerate - only to discover they are speeding along faster than they had intend- ed. The road actually goes 'down'. No one has yet been able to come up with a totally satisfactory explanation of what causes these strange effects at Croy San Francisco: - A judge who ordered the rain to stop in 1986, at the beginning of California's five-year drought, recently rescinded that order - and it has poured ever since. District Judge Samuel King, annoyed by jurors being unable to attend his court because of heavy rains, declared in 1986: "I hereby order that it cease raining by Tuesday. Let's see how that works." It worked so well the state is now in its fifth year of severe drought. Reminded recently of his motion, Judge King proclaimed, tongue-in-cheek: "I here- by rescind my order of 1986 and order that rain shall fall." On that day, a fierce storm drenched California with more than 100mm of rain. Two smaller storms have added another 75mm, and rain and winds continued yesterday. NEXUS - 30 PLACES WHERE US JUDGE WITH WEATHER CONTROL? YEAR BOOK - MAY/JUNE 1991