Blue Norther comes to town

A norther came through this last week. Most of us were enjoying the heat of summer when the sky turned dark, the wind began to blow, and the temperature dropped fifty degrees in less than an hour. This is Texas, after all, so we weren’t so surprised. But with the world getting warmer, the rest of the world is going to have to join us in celebrating “weird weather.”

A long time ago, back when I was teaching Noah’s kids, we’d have a norther come in about middle of the day sometime in September or October. It wasn’t winter, yet, just practicing. We knew we’d be having some more hot days, but it was always a surprise when it hit. The kids would have come to school that morning in cotton shirts, shorts, and sandals.

If I remember right, the television news always had weathermen. Some even had flashing magnetic stickers on a map to show storms coming, high pressure areas, and big smiley-suns that meant that it was going to be really hot the next day. Why didn’t we know? Why didn’t we send coats with our kids when we knew a norther was coming on those mornings? There were no coats at junior high on those mornings. That afternoon, the kids ran home shivering in the icy rain. Maybe we didn’t know it was really coming … or we didn’t believe the weathermen … or the mothers of junior high kids were too busy to have time to watch the weather. Whatever, the norther always surprised us.

In these modern times, we know what time of day it will arrive, how much rain will fall, the wind speeds, and what the temperature will be as the day goes along. The weather people (some are women, these days) have better equipment, more data to share, and … Maybe it is the women. After all, if a woman had been the forecaster back in 1982, she would have known the kids needed a coat.

Would the kids have worn their coats? Probably not. A junior high kid doesn’t believe adults who try to tell them they NEED something. A few might start out with coats or hats or warm scarves. They will more than likely leave them on the bus, in the backseat of the car, or under that oak tree in the playground. The warm clothing may be blown away, be “stolen” from their lockers, be loaned to a cute girl who forgot hers, or just end up in the back hall in the pile of “lost” clothing which will be given to Goodwill or the Clothes Closet after it isn’t claimed in the Spring.

Yes, we knew days ahead that the “blue norther” was coming. I was forewarned. I had a dental appointment late Tuesday afternoon. It was hot when I left home. I was wearing comfortable clothing because I was going to be in the chair a while. Did I take a coat? Nope. My coat was at home in the back room with my winter clothes … dusty and forgotten. I came home from my appointment, covered in icy rain, shivering in my thin cotton blouse, trooping through cold puddles all the way to the car … taking the walk of shame.

When the girls were little, we always had hot dogs with chili and Fritos for dinner when the first norther hit town. We’d run into the grocery store with chill bumps and wet hair, but the reward was great. Nowadays, I’d have leftovers around for three weeks. The first norther just wasn’t as much fun as it used to be … but the memories are good.