Discourse of Fools?

Have you ever noticed that Talking About The Weather gets a really bad rap?

Everyone talks about it, but when we talk about talking about it, we are so disparaging, as if talking about the weather is somehow demeaning or trivial. Why are we so mean about the idea of Talking About The Weather?

Is it really so different from discussing politics, the economy, religion or terrorism?

Politics affects all people in a given region. We individually can’t do much about it.  People have different preferences regarding it.  Some like to make predictions about it, or analyze what’s gone on after the fact.

Economy – ditto.

Religion – even more so!

Terrorism – same.

How is “Weather” any different from these big topics as a conversational gambit?

Some might say that it’s banal.  But I have to challenge that. The weather affects me much more personally than politics, the economy, religion and terrorism on a day to day basis – in that sense, it’s more real.  When you have to wake up half an hour early in January to shovel the driveway and clear snow off the car, it feels like a lot of things, but “banal” isn’t it. 

The weather has a bigger impact on my mood, my choice of clothing, how long it takes to get to work, what I want to eat….  I’ve never felt like singing out loud as I walk down the street just because the dollar has gone up a few cents.  But a sunny day in May will make me belt show tunes all the way down Bank Street.  The desire to curl up with a good book and a cup of tea will have more to do with rain or sleet pounding on the windows than anything that’s happening in Question Period. 

I have been metaphorically biting my lip, trying not to write (moan) about the weather but this morning I finally cracked.

I think it was the sight of the guy from the Coast Guard marching past me on Somerset that set me off. I mean, apparently we’ve had so much rain this spring, the Coast Guard now has a special detachment patrolling the streets of Ottawa. 

If ever there was a year for rain boots to become a fashion statement this has been the year! Though, I must admit, I am not convinced that galoshes with pink pandas or green froggies are equally fetching on 5 year olds and 50 year olds alike. 

We all know the old saw about April showers and May flowers etc. etc.  What about when the rain continues to dump down through out May, though?  With all the rain deluging us this month, those poor May flowers will soon be drowning.  Will they have to put teensy life jackets on the tulips for this year’s edition of the Ottawa Tulip Festival?

But wouldn’t you know it? No sooner had I decided that Talking About The Weather is perfectly valid, than the rain stopped, the sun came out, and everything in the garden was lovely.  Quite literally, by the way, thanks to all the rain!

It reminded me of the words of a small child spoken to me (about 963 years ago), when I was working at Centreville (an amusement park for small kids on Toronto’s Centre Island).  I was talking to one of the scads of 5-year old customers on the pony ride on a bright, sunny perfect July day in the middle of a long stretch of days just like it. 

            “How do you like the weather we’ve been having lately?” I asked. 

            The boy looked at me like I was a moron before saying, “But we haven’t HAD any weather lately!”