Talking about the weather and doing something about it

 I’m at the age where the weather is very important to me. 

I thought about this while inspecting my home for a recent freeze, making sure all the crawl space vents were closed, spigots insulated and openings where little critters seeking warmth could breach by domain were sealed off. I also couldn’t help but believe that cavemen had it made. They didn’t have to worry about freezing pipes or shingles being blown off in a storm. If an unsuspecting animal crawled in – free snack. You could even paint on the walls without care. My daughter would have a field day. 

With the privilege of having property comes responsibility and insurance premiums. But after having lived nearly four decades with plumbing and central air conditioning I’ll take my chances with modern construction, even in the threat of ice and snow. 

I didn’t realize that being a parent meant becoming an amateur meteorologist. Kids have more important things to do than check the daily forecast. They need someone to tell them it’s raining or that it’s cold, thus how to dress for the day or whether or not to take a jacket. 

It is very easy to get the weather now. There are a myriad of apps and websites that give hourly updates. Gone are the days of huddling around the radio or television. I also possess, as everyone should, one of those emergency radios that only broadcasts the NOAA forecasts and alerts. There is nothing more “dad” than shushing your kids while holding the emergency radio to your ear, so you hear the weather report.

I grew up in trailers, so severe weather meant vacating. I remember riding out many storms in the hallway at my grandparents’ house next door. The middle-of-the-night tornado warnings are seared in my mind, being awakened from a dead sleep to run next door for safety. 

Caves are fairly tornado-proof. You never hear about a tornado in a cave. If the walls are thick enough, you might sleep right through it. 

Weather dominates the conversation among older people as well. Kids never discuss how much rain has fallen or if a storm front is approaching. To prevent falling into this rhetorical trap, I’ve avoided installing a rain gauge at my home. 

The dip in temperatures has been a hot topic. Will it snow, will there be ice and snow? Everyone is worried about it. The older crowd is definitely anti-snow.   

Calvin Coolidge once said, “Everybody talks about the weather, but nobody does anything about it.” Or was it Mark Twain? Hang on, let me do some research … The internet says it could have been famous writer and editor Charles Dudley Warner, who was a friend of Mark Twain. You have to take that with a grain of salt, the internet has gotten the weather report wrong a time or two. 

I did do something about the weather: I checked the crawl space vents, capped the spigots and sealed off openings. I hope you did too. 

Stay warm out there.