Weather

I love the sky and the clouds down here.  I think because Florida is so flat that you can see a huge sky with huge clouds.  You can see way off in the distance where it is raining, even though it could be sunny where you are.  Every day, it starts off sunny and clear in the morning, and then as the day goes on, clouds start creeping across the sky until they become dark and full, and then it storms.  This happens every day.  Maybe it's the rainy season or something, I really don't know.  But it will be weird for me as Fall approaches and it doesn't get a whole lot cooler here.  I love Fall - it's my favorite season.  I love to see the leaves turning colors and the cool weather.  But I guess that won't happen down here.  I will be back in Madison for a week in October, so at least I'll get a little bit of Fall in me then.  What I won't miss is the winter with the cold and snow.  Funny - I used to love snow, but I sure don't any more.

When we were kids, we would make caves out of the snow and I remember a particularly bad year, it was 1967 or 68, where we had a blizzard in Chicago.  Everything shut down and we were stuck at home for a few days.  Of course, we loved it because we didn't have to go to school and we could play in the snow.  It was then that my brothers and I made tunnels and caves in the snow in our front yard.  The snow fell so much that when it was shoveled and packed, it was higher than I stood.  We wouldn't come in the house until we absolutely had to, and then our cheeks were red and frozen and our hands were too if we weren't wearing our mittens.  Sometimes my mom had hot chocolate waiting for us, which we drank down and went right back out into the snow.  We had a blast.

But it was when I got older and started driving that I began to dislike the snow.  Driving in it is just a drag.  I don't mind watching it fall and especially on Christmas to see clean, white snow -- but in rush hour and when there is ice, it's a real pain in the neck.  When Jason was just a baby, I lived in the city and there were few parking places on the streets in front of your apartment; so when I got one, I tried to stay there so no one else could take it.  One year, the snow was so bad, that when the snow plows ran through the streets, they buried our cars that were parked at the curb and we had to literally dig them out.  It seemed impossible at the time, but with Jason in a carseat waiting patiently, I dug out what I could and then drove back and forth, back and forth to rock/ram my car through the snow only to race to the daycare provider and then race to work.  Needless to say, there were many of those days that I was late for work.

The first year I lived in Madison, I experienced an ice storm for the first time in my life.  I was on the beltline coming home, and I lived on Simpson Street at the time.  Everyone was driving at a reasonable speed as it was raining, but turning to sleet, I thought.  I first saw it on the light poles, that they began to shine and then I realized I was skidding and not driving at all.  I looked around and everyone else was breaking and it freaked me out that I naturally slammed on the breaks too, when that is the opposite of what I should have done, and my car began to spin.  Fortunately, I got it under control and went very slow the rest of the way home.  Cars were crawling, it was so slippery, and it was a miracle that I made it home.  I'll never forgot the phone lines and the street lamps, that they were so beautiful as they glistened from the ice against the light.  Beautiful but deadly at the same time.

Now I hear that there is a hurricane approaching the U.S. and originally the forcasters thought it would hit Florida, but now it won't be.  A few days ago, people were talking about "the storm" and saying what they needed to do to be ready for it.  My physical therapist even cancelled my appointment on Saturday because of it.  I was amazed, but my mom said that places always shut down when a hurricane might be coming their way.  I guess they do that everywhere.  All I know of is tornadoes and there isn't a whole lot of warning for those - they just hit and there's not a lot you can do when they hit.  I guess there also was an earthquake on the east coast a few days ago, which is really strange.  I didn't know they get earthquakes. 

All of these strange and continuing weather patterns, gets me to thinking what the Bible says about weather and the "last days."  What does it say?  In all honesty, I can't remember which scriptures it is, but if you dig yours out, dust if off and begin reading, you'll find it too.