We live in one of those places in which weather changes vary by the hour, or sooner.
This Sunday morning, I was woken by sunlight pummeling into my eyes. Mmm, a delicious day of warm weather. No, it was simply a morning tease. During breakfast and Sunday morning paper, the sliding glass door into the back yard lawn bounced off a noisy hailstorm. An hour later, back to sun time. By lunch, a windstorm had broken out which set the ravens scrambling for control of their own flight path, gray clouds knocked out the sun. Shift back to sunlight by midday. Presently, light wind, swaying branches, sprinkles and light gray clouds as the backdrop. Overnight weather report calls for possible snow.
What if other activities in life followed this chaos? The most obvious one for amusement would be our emotions. From storm to sunlight within one meal. Mix this with every one at the dinner table on their own emotional timetable.
You could be in rollicking humor when your sister shifts into rage and flings the hot gravy in your face. Dad could hail down a lecture on animal rights while Mom sobs hysterically over a magazine article on human trafficking she read last month.
What about your City Transportation Manager? Say you were driving smoothly along the highway when the tarmac changed into gravel, then dust. Then a field of daffodils. You would need an SUV to get through the forest path, and back to a cleared tarmac.
At the local grocers, you could enter into an aisle of fresh produce, walk to the back to fetch a serving of salmon for the night's dinner, and decide you wanted a lemon to top off the fish. But by the time you returned to the vegetable section, it had transformed into a candy aisle. Only Lemonheads or gummy worms available to add flavor to your salmon.
Oh, and this would be fun. How about if your hairstylist decided to change your do in mid cut? You may have requested a light trim, but she decided that a bald scalp would be more attractive. Would you buy a wig or a hat after that, or show off your beautiful head?
What about those crazed writers? Suppose we started out with a mystery novel, and decided midway through to write a children's book. You would never know who done it.
At the end of all this musing, I am thankful that few things in life are as variable as the Pacific Northwest daily weather patterns. After all, us locals have become accustomed to dressing in layers, with a jacket stashed in the trunk of the car. That makes for a livable, practical way to get through a barometer of wild outlashings, and up and down displays. And then there is the beauty of this place. A salve for every picnic destroyed with a sudden downfall of rain.
Heather Leigh,
your steadfast and true author
