Everybody likes to talk about the weather.
Why is that? It’s because weather is one thing everybody has in common. Men, women, children, friends, enemies and strangers can freely discuss the weather. Like one said, “If it wasn’t for the weather, there’d be times there wouldn’t be anything to talk about.” Many conversations, when starting to drag, turn to the weather as a topic.
It’s the only thing we all face alike. Conditions might be different from one doorstep to the next, such as a downpour here and sunshine there. Yet, the weather is the one variable we all encounter the same way: we have absolutely no control over it. However, as similar as we are in the situation, no two seem to feel the same about the way it is.
Seldom is there consensus about the conditions as they are at the present. It’s always too hot, too cold, too wet, too dry, and on and on. That’s why we all like Kansas so very much. Our weather is always changing. The first week of spring was the perfect example. We went from truly spring-like conditions, to near-record strong winds, to a blizzard.
Reflection of similarity to what it might have been like during the Dust Bowl of the ’30s came with the strong winds as we attempted to ride our horse south into them and were blinded by the dust. Our face was thick with the dirt accumulation, and our eyes were irritated and watered for hours as we continually cleared dust specks away.
Travel on highways was treacherous, and we could feel the pull in our car as we drove into the winds. Large numbers of semi trucks being overturned made us recall four decades ago when our uncle and aunt got a new motorized travel home and the wind swept them off the highway, destroying the vehicle: fortunately they were unhurt.
With our location on top of a Flint Hill, wind damage to trees is common. Uncertain if it was 90 miles per hour, but the most recent strong airstream swept into our horse barn and lifted a portion of the facility off the poles and gouged a big hole in the roof as the entire west side of the structure floated up and down no less than three feet.
Needless to say, we didn’t ride inside, until winds ceased and carpenters were able to tie the building and roof back to the ground. Far from a tornado, it gave us an inkling of what those terrible storms could be like. Yep, snow drifts soon blew in.
Yard ice became so treacherous that we were afraid to ride horses across it. Downed power lines were repaired within hours, so we didn’t have to haul water for a hundred cattle. Thawing soon brought weather back to near normal, whatever that means in Kansas.
Thankfully, as in Job 37:22: “Fair weather cometh out of the north: with God’s terrible majesty.” However, we do have to always remember Ecclesiastes 11:4: “Farmers who wait for perfect weather never plant. If they watch every cloud, they never harvest.”
Then we were reminded of Matthew 16:2-3: “Red sky at night means fair weather tomorrow, and red sky in the morning means foul weather all day.” We’ve had some.
+++ALLELUIA+++