Whether the Weather

 RHYS BOWEN:  It’s fall, start of the rainy season in Marin County, California.  I’ve just returned from an event with Julia and Jenn at the Poisoned Pen in Scottsdale, where it rained every day I was there. Yes. Arizona. Supposed to be warm and sunny. Who knew?

Anyway, the weather now becomes headline news on the TV. I’m sure in other parts of the States (I’m thinking Julia in Maine) there is weather news every day, unless they say "It's going to be cold" until April. But in California all summer its going to be foggy at first then sunny. Or sunny and then sunny for the whole summer. Boring.

Now the weather men are getting quite excited, and dramatic. This is when they come into their own.  They say, “An atmospheric river is heading toward Northern California.”

I grew up in England. You can’t scare me. What is an atmospheric river in California is Wednesday in England. “It’s starting out dry but we may have some rain later.”

Unfortunately even England this fall has had what might be described as an atmospheric river. There has been bad flooding in various parts of the country, but this is abnormal. Normal weather throughout the year in England is if it’s fine early it will rain later. I remember vacations in Wales, taking miserable forced strolls along the sea front with the wind whipping at my raincoat, and that was August. I remember Wimbledons being rained out.  It rains a lot.

I always thought that the easiest job in England was TV weatherman. They are hardly ever right and every day they can say “It may rain later” and even if it doesn’t nobody bothers. And they never get fired.

The main topic of British conversation is the weather. Standing at a bus stop you’ll hear: “Good morning. Nippy for the time of year, isn’t it?”

“Yes, but the frost is good for the cabbages.”  (the other main topic is gardening.)

“It’s been milder than last November, hasn’t it?”

“It certainly has. My begonias bloomed until a week ago.”

That, my dears, is the extent of English small talk.

The only thing they can’t handle in England is snow. A few flakes land and buses stop running, children are kept home from school, trains are hours late. I’ve Canadian friends who laugh themselves silly. I do remember the great freeze of 1963 when the snow lay on the ground for several months, but it hasn’t happened since. I hear it’s snowing this week. Maybe it will be the great freeze of 2025.  It will give everyone something to talk about.

How about where you live? What is the attitude to weather there? Do you take it seriously?