Monthly Musing – June 2015 – Weather it together!
It doesn’t matter where you go or where you live in the world, there’s one thing that connects all of us – and that’s the weather. We joke about the British being obsessed with the weather and how it’s the topic of every conversation, but having spent a lot of time online recently in the company of people from all over the world, I now know that from Australia to America and every country in between, everyone has the same topic of conversation.
It seems quite amazing to me that Nature, in the form of the weather, is such a controlling force in our lives. The weather dictates what clothes we wear, what activities we can do and even, in the case of a barbeque, what food we might eat. It keeps us in our houses or tempts us outside. It can kill us with extreme cold or heat, and bring us back to life as we warm our over-wintered bones in the sunshine. It can be the difference between food on the table and famine as crops ripen or are decimated by winds and rain.
In contrast, we have no control over the weather at all. We like to think that we can pretty much command the world from our
fingertips these days with our remote controls and mobile phones, but the weather is still beyond our grasp. Imagine ordering up a sunny day for a wedding, or snow at Christmas every year! We could have seasons that followed set patterns, changing regularly every quarter as our calendar pages turned. There’s a poem called “The Garden Year” by Sara Coleridge that begins, “January brings the snow” and lists the expected weather for each month – but the weather never quite seems to match up. Imagine pointing your remote control out of the window and stopping the rain, or lifting the fog, or making the snow last just a little bit longer (OK, it’s probably only me who would do that!).
Perhaps it’s just as well that we can’t change the weather at the touch of a button. It means that we have to look out of the
windows and choose what to wear based on what’s happening outside. We have to think outside of our own demands and desires and remember that there are bigger things in the world than us. Tornadoes, floods, heat waves; extremes of weather as well as the day-to-day sunshine and rain – all part of a life that we have to live with and fit our own existence around. It reminds us that humans are not the most important things on Earth, even if we like to think that we are. It reminds us that the weather is part of the wonderful planet that we live on, and whilst humans might be scattered across the planet, we are all connected by what we see every day when we open our curtains. And that’s really quite magical.
I agree, it is an amazing thing! That said, if I had a remote control I would stop the daytime rain and turn up the temperature a little right now as I am still so cold!! xx
The weather is certainly most unseasonal at the moment! A bit more control would be quite useful right now! xx
Hello :-)! I'm here from Summer Days. She mentioned your sock along. Given that it took me THREE YEARS to knit my first pair of socks ( blogged up of course!! ) I'd said NEVER again! However, she assures us that you make it simple! As for the weather….. I had to put the heating back on last night for an hour or so – and that was even sat with fluffy slippers and a blanket on!! I love finding new blogs to read x
Hello! It's lovely to see you! I also enjoy reading new blogs so it's great to have found yours too! I'm pretty confident that it will take you a lot less than three years to make your next pair of socks – although I'm impressed with your dedication to stick it out and get them done! Looking forward to seeing your next finished pair 🙂 xx
So true Christine! We are having gales, rain and cold today, I have a wooly jumper on and the fire is lit. First day of summer in Scotland…..! X
The weather is really quite ridiculous – and no doubt we'll be told we're in the middle of a drought in a few weeks' time! xx
Freezing cold here on the sunny Isle of Wight too … my nose has been cold most of the day!! Supposed to be warming up for the weekend …. bbbbrrrrrrrr let's hope so. Hope you had a good day today Christine – J xxx
I had a fab day, thank you, Joy! I'm hoping that weather forecast is right too! xx
I love how you have even managed to put a positive spin on the weather, Christine. I would like some sunny weather for a while please, although, just one kind of weather for the day. It can start off warm and sunny then change back to almost wintery again in the space of a few hours. Quite windy but dry here at the moment and my washing is drying nicely on the line. X
See, you have your own positive spin on the weather! 🙂 xx
I am loosing all hope for a bit of warmth! It is just not nice at the moment, hasn't been for ages, apart from a day here and there. Just imagine if we could change the weather and the push of a button, it would change every 2 seconds because everyone has a different favourite weather…. x
That's quite true. Perhaps just one remote control is the answer – and I won't tell anyone where I'm hiding it! 😉 xx
Hello Christine. It's windy with gray skies here in southern California. It's been an odd spring; very warm temps in March followed by cool, cloudy days. But we welcome any rain that we can receive. But I'm not going to complain as many parts of the country have had terrible storms. Haha, I like the idea of the remote control 🙂 My best to you.
We're never happy, are we?! Hopefully you'll get a shower or two without the storms xx
Our weather is such a talking point, I agree! It also affects all the things we want to do doesn't it, so we are always checking the forecast to see what it will be like for picnics/sport's day/sailing/going for a country walk etc! I would like to turn the temperature up a bit tonight, after a warm and sunny day it is now quite chilly again.
Happy weekend!
Helen xox
Happy weekend to you too – and I hope the sun shines on whatever you're doing! xx