It’s the old chicken-and-egg scenario.
Are Midwesterners born to talk about the weather, or is the weather all Midwesterners want to talk about?
After a spring that resembled a painfully drawn-out winter and a start to summer that reminded us of the spring we never had, it seems summer has finally arrived. I’d have to check the weather records to be sure, but I’m pretty confident in saying that in the entire history of Fourth of July three-day weekends, we have never experienced such sunny, blue skies and perfect temperatures.
Climate-weary folk like us don’t know what to do with ourselves when the weather is sunny and warm — but not too warm — for that many days in a row. The funny thing I’ve noticed though is no matter how nice the weather is, Midwesterners are always ready for the situation to head downhill.
For instance, on the morning of the Fourth, I started to wonder if ‘weather karma’ wasn’t going to end up biting us later in the day. One would expect a long stretch of sunny splendor to result in a rainout of the fireworks show. However, our good luck continued that night and into the week as we went back to work.
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The weather helps us to show our true ‘we-don’t-deserve-good-things’ colors because even when the sun is shining many of us just can’t go against our nature of complaining about the weather. You may be a Midwesterner if you have said one of the following statements:
"Finally, some nice weather. After the spring we had, I didn’t think I would ever see summer arrive."
"I’m glad it’s nice today. It’s going to be winter again before we know it."
"What’s the bright shining ball in the sky? It’s been so long since I’ve seen it, I don’t know what it is!"
"I wonder if weather karma is going to bite us later…" Wait. That one was me. (In my defense, I’ve lived in the Midwest my whole life.)
If I didn’t know better, I would guess that we really don’t want nice weather. What else would there be to talk about? Complete strangers in line at the grocery store will say to one another, "Yeah, the weather is nice today, but tomorrow it’s back to the same old cold and rain."
We can’t just enjoy the good without focusing on the bad that is not that far off. It’s just the way we are. If we wanted to be the kind of people who enjoyed the weather every day, we would have moved to San Diego 50 years ago.
So let us resolve to enjoy the sunny beautiful days because you-know-what lies ahead.
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Sorry. Old habits are hard to break.
