Grumpa Joe's Place

One of my memories about the weather is from February in the nineteen forties. Similar to this year’s weather, we had an unusual February warmup. I was still in grammar school, probably the fourth grade. Back then we had recess at mid-morning and we were let loose to run off steam for fifteen minutes. Because it was February, we had winter coats, hats mittens, scarves and boots. By lunch time. when we had an hour off, the temperature was in the seventies. Most kids removed their coats and left them on the ground until the bell rang to come in. Being a good son, I heeded Mother’s orders to leave my coat on. Playing tag while wearing a winter coat during a seventy degree day was a sweating experience. Sis and I were the only ones in the entire school yard with coats on.

I remember this because today, 8 February 2024, the temperature is expected to reach fifty-five degrees. A far degree from seventy but no less unusually warm. I expect the sirens of global warming to be singing in the breeze and on TV news: “The warm weather we now experience is due to man-made global warming; go out and buy an electric car today.”

Mother was a stickler for staying healthy. She blamed all childhood illnesses on winter weather. Her advice was never to go outside without a coat on in any month that has the letter “R” in it. That left us with May, June, July, and August to enjoy the weather without wearing a coat. Strange that those four months happen to coincide with the Summer season. Never mind that during any of those months the temperature can drop by thirty degrees within an hour making one wish for a coat to wear. Another of her favorite admonitions was, “never sit on the bare concrete in months containing the letter “R”.

Global weather patterns exist twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, and three hundred sixty-five days a year and have been changing regularly in cycles controlled by the sun’s activity. How can that be? You ask? The sun is ninety-three million miles away from Earth. Yet, my friends the sun has an enormous effect on our weather patterns. A single solar flare can disrupt our electronics in ways we fail to imagine. The sun is just a mammoth ball of fire being fueled by gasses coming from it’s core. One large pocket of gas being expelled from an inner chamber will cause a flare that sends a ball of energy speeding through the universe that changes many things on our planet and all the others in our Solar System. ( A more picturesque way to explain this phenom is a bit crass but very graphic: Liken a solar flare to a human fart. It has an effect on those nearby.”

That said, on a wintery day in February, it is time to put on a light coat and go for a walk.

Filed under: Biography, family, Memories | Tagged: Global Warming, Mother's Love, Solar Flares |