Praise the Lord! It has been four days since spring made its appearance on March 20 and this old Country Boy was right up front with the area farmers in welcoming this particular season of the year. While there was no bitter cold to contend with, we still had a lot of "yucky" weather like cloudy conditions, drizzle, chilly temperatures, and germs that seemed to dominate the weeks and make life miserable for us outdoor types. But now that the temperatures have begun to rise, and the farmers have been able to enjoy things a little more. Particularly you mamas, who can start putting the blankets away, store the Vicks salve and cough syrup in the medicine cabinet, and have more time to let the kids play outside.

What causes all of these weather conditions that we have to contend with in the course of a year? It is a question that has confounded people down through the ages, and is evidenced by the statement of a wise man out of the past who said that "we talk about the weather all of the time, but none of us have been able to do anything about it." Before we started writing on this subject, we took an encyclopedia down from the shelf to see what it had to say about it. We read only a few paragraphs in this informative book before we had our answer. We were told that weather is something that is caused by the movement of air. Good enough; but what causes the air to move. Well, the earth is round and it rotates on it’s axis, causing the air (which, incidentally contains varying amounts of moisture) to pass over polar regions, heating the air and making it lighter. Thus, cooler air sinks to the ground, and warmer air rises; causing constant movements in the air, along with constant changes in weather as these air masses collide.

Now does that brief summary of what we read make sense to you? Didn’t think it would, and we suggest you pick up the encyclopedia and let some authorities advise you on the matter.

But if you like to keep up with the weather daily, let us give you one piece of sound advice. Tune each day on the radio or TV weather forecasts in your area. Our encyclopedia tells us that these people, with all their equipment and training, usually are correct 95% of the time.

But we are not going to completely forsake the way of the weather forecasting, which is used by our late grandmother, Nancy Reader. At the end of most days, she would walk to the back door, look out towards the North, check the clouds, and then come back in and tell all of us present: "Looks like we’re going to have some weather tonight". And sure enough; she always was right! It might come in the form of clear skies, or rain, or cold, or heat, or thunderstorms, or hail, or sleet, or snow or something else. But we always had weather, sure enough!

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