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Dave Thurlow, Host

 
Hi, I'm Dave Thurlow from the Mount Washington Observatory and this is The Weather Notebook. Today on the show, commentator Lorraine Johnson-Coleman has a bit of family weather folklore, for sportsmen:

Lorraine Johnson-Coleman

"Hunting and fishing are enduring rituals, but my uncles would be the first to tell you that the hunt is a science and it takes a keen mind, a sharp eye and an understanding of how to read the skies in order to be the least bit successful.

'The Lord done give us the signs' my Uncle Alan would say 'Now it's up to us to read 'em like he meant for us to.' For my uncles, the clues came from the weather. So, these truths became the ones to live by:"

- 'You got to hunt the geese when the wind is blowing cold and hard.'

- 'The better the weather of the day, the worst the day for ducks. If the day breaks pretty, have a wedding not a duck hunt.'

- 'Don't take your dog out when it's windy, else he'll run hisself crazy just chasing his own tail.'

- 'If it rains on a bird in the evening, that sucker sho won't fly that night.'

"And this last tip don't have a thing to do with the weather but my uncle said to put it on in:"

- 'Be sure to shoot your gun once in the yard before you leave home for the hunt, else you won't bring a dang thing home.'

"Well, there you have it, the wisdom of good hunting. Just look to the skies and carefully read the signs and nothing but abundance will come your way."

Lorraine Johnson-Coleman is an author from Savannah, GA.

Now if you 'uncles' out there have a bit of weather folklore, let us know about it by calling toll free at 1-888-724-6001 or visit our webpage at mountwashington.org. Our show is underwritten by Subaru with major support provided by the National Science Foundation.

 

Just Plain Folks: Original Tales of Living, Loving, Longing and Learning By Lorraine Johnson-Coleman "Publishers Weekly" recently declared "Just Plain Folks", a series of short stories testifying to the extraordinary lives of ordinary folks, one of the best African American books for 1998. These wonderful,lyrical stories touch many aspects of African-American life including cultural traditions such as naming practices, burial rites, worship, courtship, architecture, racial conflict and resolution.