Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Smacks Of Old Fart Wednesday-Weather


You know what Smacks OF Old Fart? Weather watching. Or more specifically watching and believing the weather reports on TV. The local media’s weather reports remind me of the Chicken Little story, “The Sky is Falling”. How many times have you seen the schools and some businesses close just because of the threat of ice, or hail, or tornados, etc. Then,ut oh, mistake, the forecast fizzled and the weather was beautiful. Me, I use a “weather rock” to get my weather. More on that later.

As I get older I have noticed that many of my friends and especially my retired friends watch, believe and act based on the local forecasts. One of my retired buddies actually moves his car to a covered carport at his mom’s house any time the forecast calls for even a hint of hail or high winds. He gets the reactionary city hotline warnings too. Reacting to those alone is a full time job. Many old farts will not leave the house or drive if it is just raining, too cold, too hot, too windy, etc. Maybe all this is really smart but I long for the days when it was no big deal if a storm was imminent. When everyone just took a look outside and decided for themselves if it was safe to venture out.

Okay, I know this is boring. So I plan to give you, the vast blog reading public, the answer to forecasting the weather for yourself. The “Weather Rock”! Yes, I’m not going to patent it. You have my permission to copy and build one yourself. Actually most boy scouts already know how to build one. You will need three strong sticks about 2-3 feet long; some leather strips (or just some rope if you don’t want to get fancy); and a rock. Preferably a large rock. You then lash the sticks together teepee style. Hang the rock from the top about half way down. Set your “Weather Rock” in your yard.
When you want to know the weather go check the “Weather Rock”. If the rock is swaying, the wind is blowing. If the rock is hot it is hot. If the rock is cold it is cold. If the rock is wet it is raining. You get the idea. Simple and you do not have to waste 15 minutes watching the TV and all those commercials. Throw those almanacs away. You are the next Howard Taft. Now if you know who H.T. is you are definitely an old fart.

I’ve got to go now. I’m worried I might miss the weather on the 10 o’clock news. And,I’ve got to go finish building my storm shelter.
Barry




- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

4 comments:

  1. Hey, you're such an old fart you forgot Harold Taft's name! (sorry)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Howard is Harold's brother. He was a much better forecaster. Surprised you hadn't hear of him.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Right....I don't know how I missed him.

    ReplyDelete