The Weather

I'm trying to think back to when I first started paying close attention to weather reports. Of course, with the advent of the internet (thank you, Al Gore) instant weather reports are way more available, but I suppose the fist time I can remember the weather being important was maybe when I was like five or six years old. My dad had one of those old battery operated hand held radios with a long antenna, and with it we could listen to the National Weather Service. We were going on a fishing trip for King Salmon on Lake Ontario, and we needed to make sure the weather -- specifically the waves -- were going to be in our favor.

The next time the weather was important was probably Spring Break 2007. It was my first time headed down to good ol' Kentuck'. And apart from a little dallying on some pebbles in India, it was to be the first of my outdoor climbing experiences. Since then, I've been ruled by the weather.

Like, I'll wake up, make coffee, take a leak, look at the front page of the New York Times and then check the weather. And if I'm going on a trip, even if it's a month and a half away, I'll check the weather there too. (Right now, for instance, they are calling for rain every day that we are supposed to be in Kentucky...boooooo.) But the weather dictates more than just compulsory actions and nervous habits.

Look at the words temperature and temperamental. The first a noun, the former an adjective. They both originate from the latin temperare: "to mix correctly, moderate, regulate, blend," (www.etymonline.com). And of course mental is from mens, which has to do with the mind. Now, you would think that a rational being could temper his or her own emotions, but when it comes to temperature and weather, we (rock bums) are all quite temperamental. If we could just get a proper amalgam of warmth and sunshine my temperament would drastically improve.

Of course, I could just take up gaming. I'm sure a serious gamer doesn't worry too much about the weather. I mean, what, maybe a bad lightening storm, or snow storm that would knock out power might be something to keep on your gaming radar. But then again, if I were a serious gamer I'd have a back-up generator or two coupled with a satphone ISP. So even then, weather is no big deal.

I did recently bust out my Magic The Gathering cards recently. And Twilight Princess is pretty sweet too...