Should we talk about the weather?

When I was a kid, I don't think I paid much attention to seasons or the weather unless it was raining. Any other time, even in snow, I'd be outside playing, oblivious to clock and calendar. As I got older, especially once I started driving, I began to pay more attention, especially when it might affect a parade. Typically, whenever I've had to play outside in March, I've encountered everything from freezing rain to simply freezing, both of which are murder on both instrument and musician. Cold metal leads to flat notes, while rain results in gurgling sounds.

The last few years, since I started keeping track, I've noticed a trend in the seasons. I've seen snow in March and even April. I've enjoyed warm weather as late as November. Some might consider global warming while others might see it as simply a shift. I think it may be a combination of the two. Our calendar approximates the time it takes to orbit the sun, but if there's a discrepancy of even a few seconds each year, eventually a shift will occur. This year we didn't have serious snow until February, with only one other minor snow fall since that dumped more ice than anything else.

The late start of the snow concerned me. Would there be snow in the Spring? It's still a possibility, but this past week has shown increasing temperatures in the 40s and even 50s. Yesterday I wore a jacket that ended up on my front seat by the time I reached my car, and though it was dark when I returned home I still had no need of it. At the beginning of the week, I still found myself blasting the heat in my car for my commute home. And while every year at this time I shiver and freeze at today's parade, seeking shelter in the lobby of a nearby seminary until it's time to start walking, today I could stay outside, bask in the sunlight, and could probably have left my jacket in the car once more.

So is weather random? Are the shifts the result of global warming or simply a progression of the calendar? As much as these questions increase my focus on the conditions outside, the same can be said for broadcast news. When I was a kid, I didn't watch the news all that often, but I don't recall logos being designed every time it snowed, or storms assigned names like “SNOWMAGEDDON 2006!!” or “FROSTAPALOOZA!!” The news sensationalizes it so much, that I never know if it's going to be as bad as they say. The one major storm we did have this year fooled me; I was certain the forecast was blown out of proportion. Mostly now I go by Weather.com if I'm near a computer, 1010 WINS if I'm on the road, and looking out a window or going outside if I simply feel like living. In simpler times, that's what people did. Sometimes you just need to go out for yourself and determine, as did Bono, whether or not ”It's a Beautiful Day.”