Weather Wisdom

“I’ve turned into Granny Grunt,” I told my son on the phone last week. Granny Grunt was what my first husband’s mother called herself, and most everyone else did too. She had that rare ability to laugh at herself and take you along, probably because she was just herself, and just fine with that.

Granny always called us in the midst of a bad storm or weather like we’ve been enduring. The phone would ring about suppertime and she’d ask, “Are you all in and safe?” I’d assure her we were and then ask, “What were you planning to do if we weren’t?” Granny was fifty miles away and lived alone in the country. We should have been the ones asking but we didn’t, because we knew years of being a ranch wife had made her smart enough not to take chances with weather. She also knew that ranchers have to take foolish chances with dangerous weather because they’re conscious of the needs of livestock, and that their own livelihood depends on that care.

Like Granny, I no longer have to be out in bad weather. But I’ve been the one with livestock dependent on me, and I did take chances. I always said it was easier to be out there in the thick of it than sitting in the house holding supper and knowing how bad it can be. That part never goes away. I have family members who are ranchers and truckers so I pray a lot. and occasionally play the Granny G. card.

Human beings are gamblers at heart, especially when it comes to weather. Most of us believe we can beat the odds, beat the storm, and carry on with our personal and collective agendas. Sports events and meetings that should have been cancelled or postponed are not, and we put our youth at risk as well as the adults who have scheduled these things and feel responsible for making them happen on schedule. We get on the road and impede the work of the very people who are trying to keep them open so we’ll be safe. When something bad happens, folks whose job it is to rescue and render aid are put at risk.

If you have family who work for the road department or power company, or are in law enforcement, you know this, and you worry just like I do. Sometimes you get angry or frustrated when the people who are determined that life go on as usual take foolish chances or demand that their agendas be met immediately. As I write this, the power is still on and roads are passable, if not pleasant. The forecast indicates this may change. I don’t like it, but have learned to discern the things over which I’m powerless. The wood box is full, I know where kerosene lamps and flashlights are, and buckets of water will be handy for the next few days. We laid in supplies and medications because we knew this was coming, but I’m always surprised at the number of folks who never listen to forecasts and get caught short. Ma Nature always has the last word so unless you are among those who have to meet her head on, hunker down and wait for spring. It’ll come. Always does,

Meet me here next week and meanwhile, do your best. Say one for the people and critters who have no choice but to do battle.