Last year at this time it was the beginning of the “Heat Dome”, which would create havoc all over our continent for the following many months. Here, in the Okanagan (or “Smokanagan” as it’s come to be called) the temperatures broke 38c (100f) on many days, people got sick, some even died and then the terror of the forest fires and the choking smoke began. It was not good and it went on and on and on until the flooding started in the fall. This year is exactly the opposite; a cool and wet start with more of same to follow. It’s too bad it’s not a little warmer this far into spring, but if it’s warm enough to swing the clubs once or twice per week I’m good with it! (And if it’s not, there’s this little thing called “couch with wine and movie” that works too lol… or how about the other one, “go to office and write blog post”.)
No matter what the weather brings it’s always a topic of conversation that often morphs into complaints, frustration & anger. Have you ever noticed how pissed off some folks get about the weather? I’ve seen it A LOT lately – and I get it, it’s supposed to be much nicer by now, but is that anger really going to solve the problem, help in any way or make anyone feel any better? Hard NO. It’s much better to just accept it and save that negative energy for the treadmill or the driving range (or thinking up fun new ways to mentally torture your ex!) Easier said than done, hey?
The B&B I owned was in “backcountry heaven”. Hiking, biking, atv’s, sleds, ski’s, horseback, fishing, golf, foraging, heli-anything or just hanging out having a bevy while dipping your toes in an icy glacier-fed creek on a hot day; these were what brought the tourists to the area and they all required at least semi-cooperative weather. Even the summer breakfasts were better outside on the deck in the not-too-hot-yet morning sun with great background tunes coming from the outdoor speakers. And a good soak in the hot tub was almost always preferred with a sky full of stars than getting rained on.
I can’t even count how many times my guests made me feel like it was my fault when they got weather that didn’t fit the vision-board they had constructed in their minds for their perfect vacation. I’m not kidding, I was treated really unkindly many times because “the visibility was terrible” or “it’s too cold” or “it’s too hot” or “it’s raining” or “there’s no fresh snow” – and it’s a perfectly beautiful day – or “it’s too windy”. It’s so freakin’ awkward to have to say, “ya know, I’m sorry the weather isn’t perfect for you but I didn’t do it (so how about you F-OFF and quit taking it out on me)”. It kinda feels like one of those things you shouldn’t actually have to say and when I did have to say it, it was virtually impossible to keep the sarcasm from being VERY prominent in my delivery…. Just for the record, the part in brackets was only ever in my head, haha!.
What is up with people who are so angry about the weather? It makes me wonder how bad the reaction gets when there’s a really bad situation that someone else actually did cause? I kinda want to see how they deal with a REAL problem, but from far away lol. It also makes me wonder if they’ve seen the news lately because certainly there’s a lot of shit out there that they could be legit-pissed-off about instead of ranting about the damn weather and making themselves look a bit unhinged. All I can do is try to change the subject and failing that, the only thing I’ve come up with is to say “well, it beats the shit out of a toxic heat dome followed up with a forest fire that’s threatening my house again”, and hope that puts out the fire in their sophomoric tantrum.
So the nutshell of the weather-rant is this; it’s time to find something legit to rant about. We are all experiencing the damn weather but the “grown-ups” among us should finally realize that bitching about it wont help and probably isn’t setting you up for a call-back or an invitation to dinner.
Have a nice day and enjoy the weather; whether it be in your fave outside spot or from the couch with wine and a movie!
s.