Weather or Not

“How’s the weather?” It is one of the most discussed subjects we talk about. At any time with anyone you can bring up the weather and without offending politics or religion or family practices, a story will arise about some weather occasion and the reaction.

It is strange how I follow the weather while walking outside more than watching the television. Now I do listen to the news/weather/sports and watch the Doppler radar if I know the weather is going to be changing, but it comes and goes in different areas at different times. I watch the clouds, listen to the birds, check the wind and feel the bio-pressure change. If a storm is coming the animals realize it first and will get quiet and hunker down. If you pay attention, you can even smell the rain before it comes. On some trips I get caught in the weather. Then the decision is do I wait it out or do I ride in the rain.

The past couple of years I’ve had the time to follow the local weather patterns. Most of the weather comes from the west or southwest.

If it comes from the west, it has to go over the Appalachians Mountains before it gets to my burg. That usually softens the impact. Then there is a curious route the weather takes. If there is a lot of lightning, it goes to the south of me and follows the river. If there is a lot of thunder, it goes north of me. If there is a high wind, well, I have a house about eight feet to the west of me who absorbs the wind before it gets to me. They even built a six-foot fence so the bushes don’t even get blown around. If the rain is light, there are places in the yard where I don’t even get wet.

If the weather comes from the south, it usually follows I-95 and brings the heat with it. These are usually the big rainstorms.

If the weather comes from the east, off the ocean, it might be a hurricane. Luckily my burg is 100 miles inland from the coast so much of power is blown out by the time it gets here.

Everyday we adjust to weather. If it is cold we put on another layer, if it is hot, we remove a layer, if it is sunny we wear sunglasses and a hat, if it is windy we don’t wear a hat, and if it is rainy we carry an umbrella. Speaking of umbrellas, I have two of them and haven’t used them in over a decade. I wonder what would drop out of them if I opened them up.

Daily weather is just a mini-season change. We appreciate the good days and complain about bad. We all share the weather and should enjoy it. Watch the clouds roll by billow in their pure whiteness then flatten their bottom with a soft grey before dumping water all over us.

That is how it has been for the past through days to soak my jungle. Tomorrow the weather is supposed to clear up and the sun will heat the yard into a sauna. Summer in the city and time to sweat; weather I like it or not.