Some places in America received too much winter weather. In California, the record-breaking total was over 56 feet of snow. That’s about the height of a half dozen or more average persons standing on each other’s shoulders. In the Sierra Nevada region, they experienced the second biggest snow totals ever (the first occurring in 1952). The snowpack determines the future of water resources, and the resulting melt will likely refill long-dried-out aquifers and remove much of the drought damage from the past several years.
In some places, the sight of rain is still the object of disdain. The past two days we’ve had rain on the East Coast, and one would think the cars had stopped working. Streets are nearly empty, and the only people who begrudgingly go out are the parents who pick up their children from school.
We tend to not like snow or rain, simply because things become wet when we don’t want them to. Both are a necessary part of life on this planet, and Earth would not thrive without the change of seasons. It may be inconvenient to wear a coat and hat or boots, but we seem to be the only species to be inconvenienced by inclement weather. The bison don’t seem to mind the snow, and in fact they look interesting dusted with white during a blizzard. Dogs and cats shake off moisture. Ducks and aquatic birds pay little attention. Modern man, however, gears up against the horrors of moisture in the air as if it were poisonous.
Sure we’ve had the issue of acid rain come up, but not lately, so don’t go there.
Visit any major city after a rainstorm, and you will see discarded umbrellas in trash containers everywhere. It seems that once the threat is passed, any reminders of it must be thrown away. Some of those unfortunate bumbershoots were blown asunder by the accompanying winds, and are nothing more than twisted skeletons with the skin of water repellent fabric hanging in tatters. Another popular discard is newspapers, which are either held overhead folded or tented to protect fragile hairdos. We never seem to be prepared for when rain will come, or we’re embarrassed when we’re ready for it and it doesn’t come. The scout motto “Be Prepared” no longer has a place in modern social circles.
There are pleasant things to look forward to after a rainstorm, such as a rainbow, or sunny beams emerging from a cloud bank. We sometimes rely on mechanical sounds of the rain to soothe us to sleep or relax us during mindfulness exercises. It’s the physical presence of water we detest when we’re not under the showerhead for the purpose of hygiene.
It would be nice to make peace with our planet and accept that a little rain is required to fall, and the occasional snow event is inevitable. We don’t have to hole up until they pass. And they do pass. At least places like California will have something better to look forward to when the last pile of snow melts under the spring sun.
People are likely to cheer.
That’s better than complaining about it.
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