By Dr. Bruce Smith ——Bio and Archives--September 16, 2024

Cover Story | CFP Comments | Reader Friendly | Subscribe | Email Us

There are basically two kinds of people, those who prefer hot weather and those who like it colder. I’ve always been a cold weather guy. Of course, this came about in the distant past from the association of snowstorms and days off school. Where I grew up there was never enough snow and always too much sixth grade.

These days I still love the cold weather. To extend the time I can enjoy it I begin to anticipate it some time in August, although the change sometimes waits until September.

To overcome boredom many years ago, perhaps in the overabundant sixth grade days, I began to spend considerable parts of my school time thinking about non-school subjects. By sixth grade I already had quite a collection of the Golden Press nature and science guides. They were my encyclopedias of self-learning. These I would thumb through over and over again in idle moments at home and even at school. Among my favorites were Birds, Butterflies and Moths, and Insects. At the top of my all-time favorites list it was a tie between Trees and Weather. It was from Weather that this week’s understanding derives. In the 1965 edition was a half-page explanation of seasonal lag. That concept is the basis for my anticipation of winter weather and the source of much enjoyment every year as each season turns to the next.

Here’s the idea. The hottest days of the year are not when the sun’s rays are highest overhead. The hottest days come after the heat has accumulated for a while where we are. Authors Lehr and Burnett said it most clearly:

This passage began my understanding of why weather phenomena occur as they do. Weather is........

© Canada Free Press