Attitudes

[libertango]

I was at a drug store, buying something, and the clerk sent me off with a cheery, "Enjoy the weather, while you can!"

Today has indeed been one of those days that we in Seattle enjoy. The sky a crystalline blue, with puffy clouds. The quality of the light just exquisite.

But we know, as the clerk shows, just how ephemeral this all is. That it could change in an hour, let alone by tomorrow.

As a long-time Angeleno, this still feels new to me. I can write a valid forecast for LA for about six months of the year for you right now: "Early morning low clouds, giving way to wide sunshine." (Which six months is a trickier issue. :)

Here, weather is a variable. In LA, weather is (largely) a constant.

But if you look at the clerk's imperative, there's not only a carpe diem aspect to it, but a memento mori as well... although those may well be flip sides of the same coin.

As Christopher Alexander says about his Quality Without a Name, it is slightly bitter.

Comments

[scottscidmore.livejournal.com]

We get that 'LA weather' for a couple of months, most of July through earlier September. And we get rain and wind November through January.

Any other time it's a roll of the dice, and they get rolled often.

But much of that time if it's raining the sun is shining at the same time, so it's not so bad.

Waterspouts and volcanic eruptions are fairly rare, don't count on them.