Roulette, but not Russian 8/13/2023

By: Jennifer Richardson Holt

Another blog and I’m looking out the window. Things have been a tad strange lately. And by things, I mean the weather. And if you are groaning and/or rolling your eyes right now thinking that you are about to have to read about the weather, then yes, you are but, it’s not going to be nearly as snooze worthy as you are suspecting.  Well, at least I don’t think it is. Hopefully, you’ll hear me out. I really have actually been purposely fighting with myself this week in an attempt to avoid the topic because, I get it, talking about the weather does come across as terribly lame on first glance. See even now, my brain is yelling at me telling me I have lost all credibility if this is the topic I have come to. But I am caving, and I am doing it. The climate around here for weeks has been doing out of character things and I am going to talk about it because if I have to look at one more mysteriously gorgeous sky and not spill out some form of creativity about it, I may burst. Like a rain cloud. Sorry. I couldn’t resist.

It started last week. First off, I need to be sure you’re aware of standard early August weather around here. It is first of all humid. It is also hot. It is very significant to note that the amounts of both of those descriptors are in levels that are so high that we are regularly convinced that the sun is angry at us. It’s a star. It isn’t angry at anyone but still we step out of our homes, and we cannot help but respond by gasping, moaning or some of use the more colorful method of saying words that are not appropriate for all forms of company. I suppose some might use words inappropriate for any form of company.  And while I shan’t condone foul language flung about indiscriminately, I do understand it wholeheartedly in this context.  This is the predicament that is the weather this time of year.

Now that we have sorted out the norm, I need to tell you about the deviation as of late.  I think it was early last week and it was only in the mornings. They were, well, for lack of a better term, pleasant. Summer here isn’t just a heat of the day thing and normally the nights and well, any other hour is still hot and oppressive. But there were just a few mornings last week that the air was filled with a foreign, I cannot go so far as to call it coolness, but it was surprisingly close.  This is just not done in early August here. We are not even remotely close to the glories of autumn yet, so something less than miserable is terribly odd and if I’m being honest, a tad cruel.  And after a few mornings just like that, things went back to the aforementioned misery. What was that?  It was toying with my emotions, that’s what.

I am going to skip all the extra rain and storms we’ve had which is out of character since normally things are achingly dry this time of year. But the weather we have had encompassing these storms is just strange.  Let’s take yesterday (at the time I am writing this).  We started the day that was supposed to be your average mostly sunny hot day with the possibility of the traditional brief afternoon thunderstorm. We awaken to grey skies and drizzle.  It was still stiflingly warm but with light on and off rain. Then the rain stopped, and the sun came out. This is normally the time that the humidity rises to test and see if people have gills because the air is very nearly liquid. But no, this is not what occurred. The temperature and humidity both dropped. It was sunny and not too hot (though don’t get me wrong if you stood with your skin exposed to said sun you knew it was still summer as it did start to feel rather toasty).  Though it was still quite warm, with lower temperatures and humidity (not to mention a refreshingly strong breeze,) it felt…well it was downright eerily nice really.  It was the kind of weather that you actually wanted to stay outdoors in and not scurry to the nearest air conditioning like a scalded dog. This is not what early August feels like.  Then it randomly clouded up and rained some more just for no reason at all.

Then, this morning, after the forecasters were insistent that though there is a good chance of showers and storms today the afternoon is their best bet. Well, apparently nobody told that to the fat black cloud that accompanied me on my way to work this morning. And when I say fat, I mean it hung low and had a distinct rounded, very heavy looking underside that literally looked like a charcoal-colored puppy belly you could pat. Obviously, if it were patted you would hear the slosh of the liquid inside. Oh, and I described it as black, and I was not exaggerating. All the automatic streetlights were on. My headlights set to automatically come on were on. It looked like night was well within the hour. It was unbelievably dark. And of course, eventually it rained and stormed as it looked like it should though it really wasn’t supposed to.  Of course, the sun promptly came out immediately thereafter as if it was very proud of itself for the cheeky joke it just pulled.  Don’t worry though, just to keep me guessing, it is yet again flooding with a very disconcerting amount of lightning for good (or not so good) measure.

I know. Weather does weird things.  But lately it has just been quite the roulette wheel, and not the typical oh, well, we know red or black. Our wheel as of late has had those colors but also magenta, chartreuse and the occasional teal thrown in.  We don’t normally have teal until late October! I’m supposed to be going out boating on the lake tomorrow.  The forecast is for sun and heat which is ideal for the plan at hand.  The last several times I have gone out on the lake, torrential rain tried to thwart my plans, but the day ended up being pleasant. I’m hoping that, for once lately, the weatherman got it right.  But I know that things change.  Sometimes you have to adapt and overcome.  I will bring lots of extra towels, and changes of clothes and hope for only red and black on the wheel.