A Year of Blogging: February 5, 2011

Today is Disaster Day. It is also National Weatherman's Day. It is amusing that the two should coincide. So many natural disasters relate to weather: tornadoes, blizzards, hurricanes. The past week has seen many parts of the country dealing with the brunt of mother nature. People have been snow bound, iced in, frozen out; it has just been nasty. It never ceases to amaze me that weathermen (and women) rush towards a disaster. If there is a major hurricane coming, you can turn to the Weather Channel and find their team of meteorologists on location, right where the worst of the storm is expected to be. They will tell you 'you must get out now', all while standing in the midst of it, determined to ride it out. Sometimes I do think their determination borders on stupidity. Just get out! While watching the Weather Channel the other night, Chicago experienced Thunder Snow. The meteorologist who was covering it actually swore on air, he was so excited. When they replayed it later, they tried to cover it up. But if you saw it live, you heard him swear a couple of times. He looked like an adrenaline junkie getting a fix. Which I suppose is true, the meteorologists seem to have a great passion for their careers. Have you ever seen the weatherman deliver the forecast with a 'I really don't give a damn' attitude? They always have such enthusiasm, even if they are telling you it's going to snow for ten days in a row.