Do you ever feel that looking at the weather report is cheating?
Lately, I've felt guilty whenever checking to see what's coming; it's like looking into a crystal ball; it is seeing into the future and playing with fate. I do understand that if one is getting married or going to hike to the top of Mount Ranier, one wants to be certain that conditions are favourable. On the other hand, the majority of people looking at the weather (in my ignorant opinion) are doing it because it's convenient, because it's something they do everyday, because it's on the news or the radio or their computer screen.
It seems as though you are attempting to control the future, so that when it rains mid-day (as it inevitably will), you can open the umbrella you clairvoyant-ishly brought with you, and turn to the person next to you and say "I saw this coming."
Without weather reports, without knowing what the skies will bring, we are at the mercy of the outdoors. A co-worker, Vlad, once mentioned that Californians were narcissists because since the skies were so continuously pleasant, they thought they deserved only pleasant weather. The Northwest skies, on the other hand, remind us constantly that the weather will do what it will, and what promised to be a brilliantly sunny day will turn to fierce rain just to remind us that we don't control the elements, that the world is large and beyond our control.
Mary, another co-worker of sorts, mentioned once that when one doesn't look at the weather reports, one is forced to become more observant. Instead of switching on the computer and going to weather.com, one stands at the window and looks up full into the face of the sky and studies it for signs of what is to come. One slows down and pays attention.
I've heard it was supposed to snow tonight, so I - hypocritically - looked up the weather to see if snow may indeed be in our future. It isn't. But I'll look out of the windows and watch the sky just in case.
Lately, I've felt guilty whenever checking to see what's coming; it's like looking into a crystal ball; it is seeing into the future and playing with fate. I do understand that if one is getting married or going to hike to the top of Mount Ranier, one wants to be certain that conditions are favourable. On the other hand, the majority of people looking at the weather (in my ignorant opinion) are doing it because it's convenient, because it's something they do everyday, because it's on the news or the radio or their computer screen.
It seems as though you are attempting to control the future, so that when it rains mid-day (as it inevitably will), you can open the umbrella you clairvoyant-ishly brought with you, and turn to the person next to you and say "I saw this coming."
Without weather reports, without knowing what the skies will bring, we are at the mercy of the outdoors. A co-worker, Vlad, once mentioned that Californians were narcissists because since the skies were so continuously pleasant, they thought they deserved only pleasant weather. The Northwest skies, on the other hand, remind us constantly that the weather will do what it will, and what promised to be a brilliantly sunny day will turn to fierce rain just to remind us that we don't control the elements, that the world is large and beyond our control.
Mary, another co-worker of sorts, mentioned once that when one doesn't look at the weather reports, one is forced to become more observant. Instead of switching on the computer and going to weather.com, one stands at the window and looks up full into the face of the sky and studies it for signs of what is to come. One slows down and pays attention.
I've heard it was supposed to snow tonight, so I - hypocritically - looked up the weather to see if snow may indeed be in our future. It isn't. But I'll look out of the windows and watch the sky just in case.
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