Rain or Shine!

This evening, it started raining here on the Bayou.  Rain is always welcome as it cools the air and gives the gardens much needed moisture.  As I stood staring at the droplets through the screen door, I pondered the thought of how weather used to be forecast before all of the technology that we have today.  Did folks wonder about what the next day's or even the next week's weather was to be like or did they just take each day as it came.  I do know that some folks kept an eye on the animals of the area and took hints from their actions.  Somehow, critters seem to have an "sixth sense" about such things.  I have noticed squirrels and birds stocking up unusual amounts of food in the fall in expectation of a cold winter plus I have noticed how antsy Ms. Ez gets just before a bad thunderstorm. Yes, the animals do tell us a lot but most of us have forgotten how to look for the obvious signs.  Then, I started remembering how Dad could tell a lot about the weather through plants.  He would check the grass in the morning for dew.  If the grass was dry, Dad would say there was a chance for rain that day..if there was a heavy dew, no rain would fall.  For major storms here on the Bayou, we can usually depend on the seabirds.  If all of the seagulls and terns are heading inland a bit, usually a stiff storm was in the making!

My brain then turned to a few of the antique weather stations that are dotted around my house.  Some of these work, others not so well, be it from age, wear and tear, or simply a "hoax".  One such weather station actually was a "freebie" from some business.  It is a thermometer with a center circle that turns pink when it is going to rain, purple when there is a change and blue when it will be clear.  The amazing thing is this actually works!  Even after all these years (this hung in my grandparent's house forever!), the little paper circle turned purple this morning and slowly changed to pink this afternoon!  Then rain started pelting the rooftop!

Another nifty little thing used to predict weather back in the day was the "Weather House".  I have two such weather houses but neither work any longer due to casualties inflicted upon them during my childhood. One is an actual "Black Forest" handmade work of art but the other was a trinket that I won at a Halloween Carnival when I was a child.  I remember that I had won the Musical Chairs game and was allowed to pick my prize from a table of donated "white elephant" trinkets.  I had my eye on the little weather house and played that game numerous time to get it!  Today, the people that once "lived" in the little Swiss chalet are missing but the little house still sits on the shelf in my house.  I promise it every time I dust, that I will fix it some day but that day just has not come yet.  The Black Forest weather house is adorable!  It has not worked for a number of years but is still mostly intact.  These little houses operate by the use of a hair that suspends a tiny platform with two people mounted on either side.  Usually a man and a woman are used as the weather indicators.  When it is fair, the lady will exit the house, when it is rainy, the man will make his appearance.  The hair shrinks or lengthens according to the moisture in the air.  This fluctuation in length causes the balance of the little platform to change and one or the other little people will swing outward! This is actually a hydrometer in the form of folk art!  Quite ingenious actually!

Yep..I imagine there are thousands of ways to keep abreast of the weather and its changes without depending on modern technology.  Not that I have anything against the breakthroughs in weather forecasting but I think it is fun to look back at some of the old ways now and again.  With the coming of hurricane season, though, I am quite sure I will truly appreciate my up-to-date weather forecasts!