Weather It Is (The Weather, Holocaust Day, and Yom HaAzmahut: Israeli Independent Day)

Good Evening:

The day of our independence is coming.  It's a day that has especially special meaning for a people who (not so long ago) needed to rely on others -- to rescue them from the Holocaust -- only to find that Humans are (for the most part) simply indifferent to the plight of their fellow human beings.

While sitting with my youngest daughter, I passed on the message that we must only rely upon ourselves, and if someone tells you that you can rely on him/her (or them), don't believe them.

Times have changed, though, and even the weather reflects this.  There is a new feeling among Israelis that we cannot seek peace as a condition for survival, rather we must be strong and as tough or tougher than anyone else who wishes to do us harm.  Is this the reason (it does make for a nice message) that after a week that will see some cool spring time temperatures (and maybe a shower), we will turn things around for a relatively mild period of weather?  Instead of shivering on the Yom HaAzmahut evening, we may actually be able to really relax and enjoy the ceremonies?

People sometimes ask me how I became a meteorologist.  A more interesting question is why did I choose Meteorology over Biology (I have a "Green Thumb"). The simple answer is that I don't like the smell of Formaldehyde, and I'd much rather be outside looking at the weather than the insides of I don't know what.  However, there is a deeper reason, and its especially applicable to someone who realises that he has lived more than half his life (or is at least likely to have).  It's the point where you realise that you've actually lived longer than the time remaining, meaning that the time will come when... (you know).  This is what is so nice about the weather.  The weather is made of seasons, and we always can look forward to one season to the next, and we do so again even as the years pass by -- which gives us a certain feeling of security and permanence -- regardless of what we might suddenly discover otherwise.

I hope that we will always remember and always remind the world of the lessons of our history -- the Jewish people live, and they live in their own land, and they will fight to stay here, so they can always  fight another day, but that they can also know times of peace.

Barry Lynn