Weather is an interesting topic about which people enjoy conversing. Men, especially. At any coffee shop on any morning, men debate the ACTUAL rain fall amounts at great length. Who’s meters are more correct? What WILL the weather be? What are the HISTORICAL statistics? The amount of topics regarding weather go on and on. To men, this is delicious rhetoric. Not controversial, but informative.
I’ve always been the “WHO CARES?” kind of gal. It’s not like anyone can change the weather. I’m not planning a garden event, or travel through obscure mountain passes. I’m just hanging out at Winterpast. If it rains, I will go inside until it clears. If it snows, I will order my groceries online. If it is hot, it’s a good time for a nap in an air-conditioned house. The subject used to be vitally important when an entire raisin crop was on the ground. These days, it matters not. Period. End of Subject.
When farming, a September rain was often accompanied by squeals of delight from co-workers. A sign that fall was on the way after brutal Central Valley summers. To me, it met utter disaster. Period. Perhaps a total crop loss. I could never explain that to them, but during those 17 years of farming raisins, my fear of September rains was real and intense. A state of the art weather station was something needed on every farm.
A few years ago, my God Mother, sent me the most wonderful gift. It has traveled with me, and is now at its second and final resting spot, Winterpast. This little stick, made of balsam wood, is a barometer all on it’s own. “The stick bends down to foretell foul weather, or up for fair weather,” according to Maine Line Products, listing the stick barometer on Amazon for $11.25. It’s useful lifetime can be 9 years or older. Mine is 7 years and still predicting weather.
When weather is great, the stick goes up. Way up. When weather is inclimate, the stick goes down. Really, just like a person’s facial expressions. No one believes the stick is actually a working barometer. I can’t blame them. I didn’t really believe it until I owned one and made my own observations.
As I have stated, that is the extent to which I need to know meteorological information. A true barometer reading, I need not. Wind speed is nice, but if my trash cans blow over, I know it is crazy windy outside. If the flag is still, there is no wind. Pretty easy.
My new friend mentioned that a weather station is a really cool thing to have. So, now I have one, perfectly installed by him upon my patio cover. Wirelessly, it communicates with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. One must wait for the device to “learn” about its surroundings, and then, information starts pouring in on a little screen that now sits in my kitchen.
At this time, the outdoor temperature is 65 degrees, with a humidity of 16%. Partly cloudy with a rainfall amount of zero for the day and year. The wind speed is 2 mph. The indoor temperature is a balmy 71, with 25% humidity. Just perfect.
The thing is, in my world, the day is perfect already, whether the wind was 2 mph or 10 mph. I really don’t see any clouds in the sky, yet. Perhaps they are coming soon. I love 71 degrees, and feel most comfortable when my house is at that temperature. Not to hot, not too cold. So, I could have guessed that one. The humidity is higher today. I knew that because my hair isn’t frizzled.
I suppose it is just another way to remove our senses and abilities to tell time without a clock, or judge the direction of N, S, E, or W by the position of the sun and stars. Another way to make us depend on the government (NOAA), internet, and gadgets. Another way to discount my stick, which at the moment says the weather is perfectly UP outside.
I better hurry to get my daily gardening fix in. Who knows when the torrential rainstorm and blackened skies are coming. With a wind speed of 1 mph now, I don’t need to worry about my hair blowing into a giant rat’s nest of tangles. At 66 degrees, I can leave my sweatshirt inside and go make some Vitamin D. Happy Gardening!!!!