Splash No. 171 - Weather
Weather
When I was younger, I used to decry the mundanity of small talk, especially when it gravitated around the sky and its moods. Despite this, I’ve grown to admire the art of talking about the weather. My meteorology knowledge might be lacking, but I can now talk an ear off about the humidity and amount of sunlight on any given day. And don’t even get me started about precipitation.
Yesterday was the first day of fall, and the day before was one of the hottest days I’ve experienced in San Francisco, an 83-degree scorcher that made me wonder if I’d wandered back into a less humid Georgia. Living in California is confusing since the time of year doesn’t correspond to weather in the same way that most places experience it. In San Francisco, September is the hottest month of the year and it’s warm during the day and cold after 4 PM and you can never dress for the weather. And yet, this confusing weather is a means to connect in a city of transplants, many of who I have very little in common with, at least at first glance. While it might be difficult to ascertain our shared interests initially, we can bond about the strangeness of the weather, and wondering what the other was used to.
In high school, there was always a particular day in September when I’d stop wearing shorts in favor of jeans, a day a bit later when I’d start wearing sweaters, and some time in March or April when shorts would return. In the summer, wearing pants was an impossibility, especially if one was to go outside at all. And each of these shifts was associated with holidays and seasons, crunching leaves and the sea of pollen. But the Illinois transplant tells of the winters colder than I thought thermometers could record. The Canadians laugh at my inability to handle cold. And the New Yorkers don’t have driver’s licenses for some reason. And all of us go home and realize that we can no longer deal with any sort of weather, hot or cold, rain or sun; now too accustomed to the temperate tip of the peninsula.
I look forward to autumn, for scary movies and pumpkin-spiced everything that will take the place of colored leaves and appropriate weather. Maybe I’ll pull out my sweaters, and find a new sign of the changing seasons in the old.
Drops of the Week
ALBUM - Montero by Lil Nas X - new Lil Nas X! pretty solid album, I like the horns.
ARTICLE - "George Saunders’s Advice to Graduates" by Joel Lovell - found in one of my old journals
POEM - "Rulers" by Fenton Johnson - a poem also finding joy in the mundane
With each day, we can move closer to a more equitable world. Reminders:
Donate to Help Afghan Refugees Settle in NorCal Mutual Aid Networks
Anti-racism resources
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Autumnally,
Nikhil