This is the first question that we want answered when we open our eyes in the morning. The answer will affect our plans for the day. Do we need to bring an umbrella? What do we need to wear? How heavy would the traffic be?
If you are a farmer, you would be very happy if it rains. Your corn and other crops badly need it. But the four year old would be disappointed. He or she cannot go out to play. (In the Philippines, when it rains, children run out naked and frolic in the downpour.)
The weather is a factor in all our lives. The fashion designers think of the weather when they create their masterpieces, shoemakers think of the weather when preparing their new designs. Automakers fit their models to the seasons in the place where their transportation creations would be used; there are tires for winter and another for warmer times.
There are jobs that are done mostly in spring and summer like repairing roads and other outside constructions. The creativity of man has been tried to the fullest in the attempt to adjust to the weather.
Mankind has controlled its environment to suit people’s needs. But not the weather. Long-range planning has to be altered when the weather does not permit it being carried out. Just look at the huge national convention for the Republican Party slated for the last Sunday of August.
Thousands of members were to congregate at Tampa, Florida. But preparations cooled off when news of a hurricane that seemed to go that way created anxiety among participants. Alternative arrangements were made. Can you imagine a hurricane raging while candidates are delivering their speeches?
Scientific studies have reported that there is global warming taking place. This may be good news to some people who hate the extreme cold but bad news in general to the whole world. It has been reported that animals in the poles of the earth like the polar bear, walrus and penguins may eventually become extinct if they lose their habitat.
Many climatologists and other scientists on the weather have started in the recent years to plan ways of overcoming this phenomenon.
Well, maybe slow down the process but not completely stop it. Nature is something that man cannot completely control.
With all the progress in science and technology, man cannot foretell until it is actually measureable when a tsunami is going to hit, or a hurricane would blow over, volcano would erupt or a Tornado would roar through?
No amount of planning can prepare for a flood or an earthquake. We can take precautions but we cannot foresee the occurrence of nature’s wrath.
The weather is like turmoil in our individual lives. We cannot foretell when one is coming. We may be happy one minute and then our world collapses in the next. It could be in the form of an accident, an economic collapse, a betrayal of a loved or trusted person or the definite end of it all: death.
Some people are strong enough to shoulder the aftermath of a catastrophe, others are not. Some may be fully equipped to shoulder the effects of a nerve-racking event, others are not.
Our circumstances in life may prepare us for such disasters – physical, emotional or spiritual.
Age and experience may help. But in some cases, chronological age does not go hand in hand with emotional maturity. Some people remain emotionally immature regardless of age. This could be because they had a smooth sailing in life supported by wealth and power so that like a tree with a weak trunk, the person falls when a strong gust of wind blows.
Buildings are erected with strong materials that can withstand the forces of nature. So are bridges and other structures. Like these creations of man, let us prepare ourselves and our children for anything that we may face in life. Discipline, respect for the rights of others, kindness and understanding are traits that would serve as our protection from what may come. They are the strong roots that would keep us stable on the ground.
Are we ready for the weather anyday?
