Proper Victorian maidens were told a permissible remark to their dinner partner was “The weather is seasonable for this time of year. Don’t you think so?” The knowledge of weather in places we are has always been needful and necessary to those who are farmers or sailors or planners of outdoor picnics. In recent years, what it is like in other place has because more possible to know and has increased in importance. Every phone conversation with my dad began with the question, “What’s your weather like.” It sounded as if I were personally responsible. Not until we had compared south Louisiana with Houston, Texas, could we more on to another topic, like his grandchildren.
Early guessing of weather was iffy at best- and in some cases still so. A few of the ideas were pure superstition. There is a scientific reason for Red sky at night, sailors’ delight. Red sky in the morn, sailors take warn. I doubt that the man quoting those words knew why they were to be trusted. The signs were true enough to be repeated and believed. If the crescent moon has enough curve to hold a hunter’s horn, a dry spell is on the way.
First newspapers, then radio, television still in the mix, and now, of course, the internet, supposedly take the guess work out of knowing. However when heavy rain is pelting outside and the voice on the station is saying no precipitation in the forecast, a member of our family declares: “Weathermen don’t have windows.” Some local weathermen, though, do build a certain respect. My mother turned the fire down under supper and went to sit by the TV to hear Nash Roberts at 6:00. He told about New Orleans and then said, “Now the forecast for north of the lake.” Sid Roberts was our children’s favorite mainly because he tracked the course of Santa Claus on Christmas Eve.
Our activities are planned by the probabilities of the day. The temperature may be acceptable, yet mix in humidity, and my walk gets rethought. I made a grocery run to hunker down for Hanna which threaded the needle of the Gulf to rain on us and move on to flood the lower coast. We teach our children the difference in weather and climate. The changes of the later are more dynamic. Ice floes are melting, and polar bears may go the way of dinosaurs. At times in a West Texas drought we ask for more of the wet stuff, and when heavy winds are pushing water down the street our cry is “Enough!” Either way, our only control of weather is a topic of conversation. It’s a gift, and we are thankful.
Be sons of your Father in heaven, for he makes his sun rise on the evil and the good and sends rain on the just and the unjust. Matthew 5:45
Let Me Tell Ya 