April showers bring May flowers, but will this daily rainfall ever stop? Joints are aching, and all I want to do is snuggle under the down comforter in my warm bed. I had to pull out my corduorys and wool sweaters, wool socks and rubberized shoes to go grocery shopping for the week. The heat is back on; forget tanning weather. We’re back to late winter snowfalls and driving sleet and icy rain.
Weather is a contest beween man and Mother Nature, who’s proving to be rather fickle for us MInnesotans this past year. I figure I should be getting Noah’s plans for building an ark! Andy and his crew put in the dock on Saturday, but we may have to raise it as already we’ve had over 4” of rain in 2 days. Our bricked sidewalk is flooded so my soaking wet husband Dave, buffeted, pelted and drenched by the rain, has put old dock sections on top of the sidewalk so people don’t have to wade in pools of water to get to our house.
Inside, I have seven buckets set up to catch dripping water. This east wind pounds our windows, especially the sliding glass door to the deck, habitually a drippy area of the house. Today the drips are compounded by raging winds that have the tall maples and pines swinging and swaying. All I need is a toronado pulling up trees, crashing into my house.
According to WCCO weatherman Paul Douglas, driving rain, raging winds and dark, ominous clouds dominate the next week in Minnesota. Weather can mean life or death for folks, especially those in the toronado belt and the Gulf Coast, sometimes swept by damaging hurricanes. So far, no toronados have been sighted in Minnesota, though a few have raced through Iowa and caused havoc in nearby states of Iowa, Missouri and Nebraska.
It appears that weather has become an indispensable part of our lives . Americans are preoccupied with the weather. Of course farmers, sailors, and fishermen have always been weather geeks. Benjamin Franklin was the first to observe that storms can move in an opposite direction from the wind. He accurately theorized about the existence of high and low pressure. Franklin uncovered the secrets of the Gulf Stream. Everyone is aware of his experiments with lightning. Thjomas Jefferson and George Washington both kept methodical meteorologial diaries, recording weather data daily over their lifetimes.
The National Weather Service was established in 1870 to deliver weather data and forecasts from across the nation to newspapers and radio stations. By late 1930’s, local radio news programs included regular weather forecasts. The “weatherman” came into being. By 1940, experimental television stations began broadcasting weather reports.
Technology has brought the weather into our living rooms. We can comfortably watch high-definition TV in our home to see what the weather is today and the forthcoming week.
Hopefully, sunshine will re-enter my world later this week.
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