Monday, January 29, 2007
Another sunny day
I'm one of those misguided native Oregonians who prefer cloudy, even rainy days to the sunny ones. Not always: I remember the Februaries of my childrhood, when the winter weather was more normal, those bleak Februaries when everyone's spirits were exhausted and we wondered if we'd ever see the sun again. Still, I have my reasons for liking them. Cloudy days are calming. Cloudy skies have far more interesting textures than clear skies. Rain nourishes the earth, and makes the fertile Willamette Valley possible. And, perhaps most important of all, the prospect of four uninterrupted months of rain discourages shallow people from moving here.
However, what annoys me most is listening to the talking heads on the evening news chatter on about how wonderful it is that the next day or two, or next week or two, will be sunny and dry. Each and every one gushes in the same, unvarying way. It's hard not to conclude that they've been taught everyone agrees with them about this inoffensive and safe opinion; those who don't don't matter because surveys show those dissidents are not only degenerates who also dress badly, leer at small children, and spend our spare time stealing books and DVDs from the public library -- and worse are an unprofitable market for advertisers. This grumpy blogger to the mainstream media: those of us who like cloudy weather buy things too! So treat us with respect and knock off this happy talk about sunny weather.
Okay, now that's out of my system. I'll drop the matter until this summer. That will be about the time those talking heads are chattering about why water supplies are so low. Someone will need to point out to them how the two are connected.
Geoff
However, what annoys me most is listening to the talking heads on the evening news chatter on about how wonderful it is that the next day or two, or next week or two, will be sunny and dry. Each and every one gushes in the same, unvarying way. It's hard not to conclude that they've been taught everyone agrees with them about this inoffensive and safe opinion; those who don't don't matter because surveys show those dissidents are not only degenerates who also dress badly, leer at small children, and spend our spare time stealing books and DVDs from the public library -- and worse are an unprofitable market for advertisers. This grumpy blogger to the mainstream media: those of us who like cloudy weather buy things too! So treat us with respect and knock off this happy talk about sunny weather.
Okay, now that's out of my system. I'll drop the matter until this summer. That will be about the time those talking heads are chattering about why water supplies are so low. Someone will need to point out to them how the two are connected.
Geoff
