Weather is Weird

So this is my first winter since becoming an active Facebook participant. Why does that matter? The main thing I do on facebook is check in on how and what people are doing by reading the status updates on my "friends" page.

(For non-FB users, a status update is a line or two that people complete about themselves, which starts with their name and supposedly describes their current situation.)

And what I have been noticing lately, is that a lot of people's current situations revolve around the weather. Many people appear to be having snow days. Others are having to drive or walk through very cold air and snow. Others are just having rain and/or general dreariness, which is usually expressed as longings for sunshine.

So. Two reflections on this, one old, one new.

Old reflection: It is another proof of the amazingly primal affect that weather has on us. If you look at all the supposed "progress" the human race has made -- whether technological, philosophical or otherwise -- it is astounding that we are still so completely controlled by weather. Mood, ability to get around, outlook on the world, health -- this is simply an area of nature that we have completely failed to get the better of. (Though I did see something yesterday about an "air-conditioned beach" in, I believe, Dubai.)

I think that is marvelous. I love it that we are still so primitive when it comes to weather. We talk about it, not because we have nothing else to talk about, but because we're all secretly obsessed with it sometimes. We complain about it, we plan around it, and still, it gets the better of us most of the time.

Just think how much more hubris there would be in the world if it were not for weather.

New reflection: all the talk of snow in people's status updates on facebook has gotten me in a wintery, Christmas-y mood. And, bizarrely, it has almost made me miss snow. That is also kind of amazing.

It basically never snows in this Southern locale where I have found myself these past 7 years. It's happened twice, and it was a dusting that never really stuck around past noon. And quite frankly, that's been just fine with me.

I find snow mostly an annoyance. I don't like being controlled by it. I appreciate not having to clean one's boots every time one comes inside, and not having to bundle up to an extreme level to go outside, and most of all, not having to scrape off one's car anytime one tries to drive anywhere. I love not having to deal with snow.

When we've visited family, and there's been snow, I've appreciated it for a bit, and then remembered why I don't miss it and managed to tolerate it the rest of the visit.

But lately, my animosity has been melting. Just the other day, I caught myself thinking the dreariness would be less of a downer if there were some snow to pretty it up. Weird. And I think it's from reading about all my Northern friends who have been dealing with snow for weeks now. It's like finally talking with a childhood friend about a silly kids book you both used to read and then wishing you could find a copy.

We will be visiting my in-laws after Christmas this year, in western New England. Perhaps there will be snow. Perhaps it won't be totally annoying. But I bet I'll be glad to get home. Because vicarious, facebook snow is probably all I need.