I'm a compulsive weather watcher. I like to look at satellite pictures from the National Weather Service. I'll check the site two or three times a day to see what the clouds are doing in the Pacfic. My hope is that it will rain someday. But I'm constantly fooled. I've been let down so many times, I'm beginning to resent Oregon.
A curious thing happened the other night. I was awoken from a deep sleep by the sound of pine nuts falling on my deck. The pine tree that abuts my cabin is dropping seeds. The seeds look like, and are about the same size as Milk Duds. I thought it was odd that the tree would be dropping seeds without the prospect of rain. At least that's what the experts were saying. No rain. But when I looked at the satellite picture it looked like rain to me.
Does the pine tree know something about the weather that scholarly man does not? As it turned out, it rained the following day despite the forecast. Just lightly, but it rained. My assumption was, yes, the pine tree does know more about the weather than scholarly man. Of course it could be coincidental. But it's cloudy now and the forecast says clear days. The satellite picture says rain to me, and the pine tree dropped more seeds ... I'm betting on the pine tree.
Days later: It never rained. The storm conked out. Lesson: Never bet on a pine tree when it comes to predicting the weather.
