SUNDAY BRUNCH

If people could have the final say, what would the weather be like?

By Wally Wachter
Retired Herald Managing Editor

NOTHING IN THIS world provokes more complaints than the weather.

It's either too hot or too cold. Too wet or too sultry. There are too many thunderstorms and tornadoes. There are too many prolonged snowfalls. Too many floods.

There are too many differing opinions on what the ideal weather should be.

For years, scientists and meteorologists have been studying weather patterns with an eye to curbing or eliminating the severe inclemencies that seem to be becoming more prevalent and intense.

The weather buttons are being pushed for us on a much higher divine source.

What would the world be like if the choice of weather conditions would be left to us?

We might be living in an arid desert. Judging from the elation that is evoked when brightness finally breaks through the rain clouds, most people seem to favor the sunny skies. Many would settle for those sunshiny days year-round.

But if there are too many of them in a row, the trees, the flowers and the grass that add to the scenery of a ``nice day'' begin to droop and wilt, drawing the complaint: ``We desperately need rain!'' If it came, the plea for sunshine would return.

If farmers and gardeners were given control of the weather, there would be a better balance of rain and sunshine. But the severe soaking of the earth needed during the growing season would draw the wrath of the sun worshippers.

And the intense sunlight needed to nurture the crops would be too hot for the mild-weather addicts.

If the weather button could be pushed by many whose health conditions are affected by the changes in climate, there still would be no happy medium. Some cannot endure the dampness, others the extreme heat. And in many cases, economic conditions prevent them from relocating to areas of the country more suitable to their ailments.

The accent on weather has been becoming more pronounced each year, with competing television and radio stations giving daily reports of conditions and sounding warnings of severe developments that, more than not, never materialize.

We recall the days when the only hint of what kind of weather was in store for us came in a little box at the top of the daily newspaper.

We had few worries about the weather. We were content to accept and live with whatever God sent us.

The old comic riddle of the day was, ``What do they do in Switzerland when it rains?''

The answer: ``Let it rain!''