I guess I'll put this entry into the "communities and technology" category, because how we perceive and talk about nature deals with community and technology issues. That fudge being clarified, the issue is this:
Weather. How do we think about weather and do our local weather teams and local television stations benefit from a panicked approach to weather.
Being a little bit more panicked about weather might be good for me. On Friday we had a significant snow storm. By 8 o'clock, we had a four or five inches on the ground and a heavy, wet veil of snow in the air. Friday night is bowling night and I could have walked, but the streets were clearer than the sidewalks, and walking the half mile to the alleys probably would have meant wearing something heavier than my loafers and carrying an extra pair of socks with me.
I took an overcoat but no muffler and no hat, wiped off about four inches of snow off the car with my bare hands. The roads were slightly slick and there is a slight grade to the St. Lawrence O' Toole rec center, but the only real thing to be worried about were the other drivers and there weren't that many. I made it to the parking lot in regular time and gingerly walked through the parking lot so I didn't get my socks wet. The only real problem for the night turned out to be my first and third games.
After bowling, some of the fellows get together to have a beer, smoke cigars, and watch television or listen to music. The local news station had devoted about two five minute segments to Storm Team 11, and Steve Teeling was busy waving his arms in front of the radar images trying to convey the drama of the night's weather.
And I have to admit, weather is important, and a lot of the people who present the weather are well trained, articulate people who grasp the very complicated subject of meteorology. They probably have a better idea of what the word "stochastic" means than I do. But when Teeling said, "we have a monster on our hands," the fellows had to guffaw, even though we're not even sure how to guffaw.
A monster?! Perhaps if the snow storm had been tipping buildings over and lifting up automobiles, a la Godzilla we might have a monster. No doubt if you were in a car the weather could be dangerous. But let's face it, whatever problems the weather created were probably of our own making. Whatever fear or panic they provoked came from our own perceptions. The only thing good that can be generated by calling the snow storm a monster is good ratings.
Strictly speaking, nature creates fearsome beasts, perhaps, but not monsters. People create monsters. In this case, Steve Teeling was trying to create a monster in our heads. If there were any injuries or deaths due to the snow storm, my guess is that most were automobile related. I repeat -- people create monsters.
So I finished my last beer for the evening. Headed out to my car. Backed down the parking lot. And my car, a Volvo, hesitated a bit, and in the amount of time I took to get out of the rut I was in, my mind worked through a couple of scenarios, I get out, I get out with the help of a few friends, or I just park the car, walk home and let the snow melt sufficiently or dig the car out. But a short back up later I was out of the parking lot, down the hill and back out on the flat streets.
My friend, Matt, asked me earlier in the evening why a Swedish car, a Volvo, wouldn't be four-wheel drive. Probably because most people in Sweden don't behave like maniacs, drive like maniacs, and expect the car to make up the difference.
One other thought: When I say people create monsters. I realize that I'm using a tautological definition. But there's another aspect to this. I remember taking a class with Dana Polan and him talking about Japanese monster movies, and that most Japanese movie monsters were the result of some human transgression against nature, radiation-leak, chemical spill, or lab experiment gone awry, and, perhaps, it was the Japanese psyche saying this was nature's payback for our nasty behavior to her. Perhaps our weather teams are busy recreating this narrative for us. We're bad to nature, stripping the ozone layer, increasing greenhouse gases, then nature takes revenge. Then we have to strafe it with airplane fire and finally John Ashcroft has to remove more of our civil liberties.
I didn't intend for this post to be so long. I only watched an hour of TV on Friday and I didn't even post what I think of John Fedko. No wonder I don't watch much television.
Posted by mastr at December 7, 2003 10:31 AMGreat post.
Posted by: Liz at December 12, 2003 12:18 PM