Weather It Is (It Sure Is Nice, but Rain is also a Blessing)

Good Afternoon:

It sure is nice outside.  The temperature at 3 IDT is 30 C, with 38% humidity and a heat index of 29 C.  This just shows that with the low humidity, it actually feels cooler than it is.  There's also a light westerly wind at 5 km/h.

To be honest with you, I'm looking forward to the day(s) when I can write about the possibility (and then hopefully probability) of our first snow.  It's different in America (the USA), where a snow storm pops up on the horizon and arrives just a few days later (at most).  Here, we often have to look two weeks ahead and by the storm arrives I am a bit of a nervous wreck.  You see, I don't want to raise expectations too high and commit the "sin" of misleading anyone.

Speaking of sins, we all headed over to the neighbors to throw our sins into their beautiful pond complete with swimming (rather than plastic) fish and (real) Lilly Pads.  They have an amazing new device (that you can even use on Hag). It's called a "Sinometer."  You pass it on your way in and a number (in my case: 64-kg) comes up and on the way out it reads (in my case) 54-kg.  It means that in my case I unburdened myself of 10 Kilos of sins.

Contrast this to my wife.   Before heading off to do Taschlich, I asked her "what's that?"  "Oh, this is my bag of sins."  It turns out it was empty.  Why was it empty?  Because my son said that he was sure that she needed a bigger bag (and one can see just how important it is to treat our children with a light  and caring hand), and he'd proceeded to empty it of all its contents.

Of course, I was curious about what (sins) might have been in the bag -- as last year and the year before she had none to speak of.  "Oh, the time I made you potatoes when you wanted pasta, and the time I made for you pasta when you wanted rice," she answered.

So, now I know where at least some of those Kilos came from:  not (always) expressing proper appreciation for all the goodness she bestows upon me.  Part of being kind is expressing happiness even when some of the small things in life don't go your way.

That still leaves about 8 Kilos, but I need to detour back to the weather.  We see pretty much the same weather through Sunday, except for a degree warmer.  However, a low pressure front will approach on Sunday night and drop temperatures on Monday and Tuesday by about 5 degrees Celsius. It will also bring our first chance of heavier showers (not counting the thunderstorms that occurred Tuesday/Tuesday night -- especially in the south).  It's not sunny weather, but I'm sure that you'd agree it's a blessing nevertheless.

The clouds should mostly part by Wednesday morning and temperatures will moderate back up today's pleasant weather temperatures-- as Yom Kippur morning services begin.

Looking further ahead, there is about a 30% chance it will get a bit hot, a 40% chance that temperatures will just continue as they will be (on Wednesday; Yom Kippur), and a 30% chance that the weather will turn cooler.

It pretty much sums up our predicament.  Will we work to make ourselves better, or -- God forbid -- slip on the ice -- or will we just stay the same?

Now, I know where the other 8 Kilos of sins came from: not enough patience with my children and not enough effort to be better.  You see, if you're not trying to be better you're really getting worse.

Let's make this New Year something special!

Barry Lynn