Let’s Talk About the Weather

You’ve probably heard the adage “when there’s nothing to talk about we talk about the weather.”

It’s the classic conversation starter when you’re in need of small-talk especially if you’re in the company of those you don’t know well.  As a topic weather is sort of like “Seinfeld” in that it’s really like speaking about nothing because it affects everyone, is about as neutral a subject as you’ll find and is fairly objective.

I mean when was the last time you witnessed a heated argument over the weather. Well at least one that did not involve a meteorologist trying to defend themselves for missing the latest forecast.

With that said the weather is my topic today and yes partly because I don’t have anything else.  I want to like the month of March for obvious reasons, St. Patrick’s Day and the parades, the NCAA basketball tournament a/k/a “March Madness," Daylight Savings Time (this Sunday), the arrival of spring (March 21) and opening day of the Major League Baseball season (March 28).  These are all dates and events to look forward to and I am.

However when it comes to weather simply put March_______ (fill in the blank).

It’s not that the weather is really that bad in comparison to January and February, it’s just that we’ve had enough of winter and want to move on.  We have had a pretty mild winter this year especially in Ocean County so there’s not much to complain about even though I am.

The problem is once we get to March 1st we sort of feel like it’s over and time to move on and when we get snow, ice, sleet and cold weather during this month is like being kicked when you’re down.

I guess this comes down to whether you’re a pessimist or an optimist.  If you believe the glass is half-empty that it’s still winter and March is simply a horrible month.  However those that believe the glass is half-full know that warmth will replace cold, light will replace dark and green will replace brown before you know it.

Like I said, when there’s nothing to talk about we talk about the weather.