Regional Storyteller

By Laurent d’Entremont

There is an old saying to the effect that everybody talks about the weather, but nobody does anything about it.

We often open up conversations, even with total strangers, by talking about the weather. Not only do we talk about today’s weather, we also talk about yesterday’s weather and try to predict tomorrow’s weather, something we know absolutely nothing about.

My grandfather was never wrong, though, at weather forecasting. He would often say, “I can give you yesterday’s weather with great accuracy, but if you want tomorrow’s forecast, you’ll have to ask me tomorrow night.”

The weather is important to all of us, but nobody studies the weather more than fishermen do, often their lives depend on it. My grandfather still showed a profound interest in the weather, long after his fishing days were over.

It was likely a storm-stuck fishermen on a remote island off our Nova Scotia coast many years ago who penned the following poem on a fishing shanty’s door. A now retired fisherman memorized it years ago and passed it on to me recently. It depicts very much how fishermen feel about weather conditions:

”When the wind is from the south, it blows the bait in the ‘fishes’ mouth. When the wind is from the west, then the weather is always best. Northern air makes weather fair, but! When the wind is from the east, it is neither good for man or beast!

It says “author unknown,” but it is a safe bet that this poem was not written by Ernest Hemingway or Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Yet it shows that the weather is always on the mind of those who earn their living on the high seas, and well it should. Many who ignored the weather signs are no longer around to talk about it.

Living in a fishing village, I can usually clue in on the weather by the number of cars and trucks that go by our house at four or five in the morning on their way to nearby Dennis Point Wharf.

When I hear the big diesel motors in lobster boats kick in I know we are usually in for a fine day.

Farmers count on the weather too, crops need rain, but not too much, drying hay need sunshine, lots of it, and light westerly wind, and so it goes.

It may have been a farmer from the Annapolis Valley who first observed that cows can predict the weather. It is generally believed that cows will lie down when they expect a storm, and that when cattle stand with their backs to the wind, it will rain before the day is over. When cows are happily chewing their cud, we can expect light breezes filled with sunshine.

Growing up on the small family farm I made a few observances myself. When a cow’s tail is wet, it is raining; when it’s blue or frozen, it’s cold. When it vibrates, it is windy. When it turns white, it is snowing. If it falls off, I don’t know what it means, but to be safe, run for your life!

I learned another weather related story while entertaining as a storyteller/comedian at a social function recently. After the performance an elderly gentleman came to me and told the following story.

It appears this man really loves golfing and one rainy morning, with howling winds he woke his wife at six a.m. and said “Get up, dear, we are going golfing.”

His wife, half awake, replied “Are you out of your (unprintable) mind? It’s a terrible rain storm out there. I’m staying right here in the comfort of my own bed.”

He told her that real golfers do not stop for a few drops of rain, and took off for the golf course. Shortly after though, he realized that his wife was absolutely right -- only a fool would be golfing in this weather. Returning home, he quietly crept back into bed and whispered to his wife, “It’s a terrible storm out there,” to which she calmly replied, “I know. And to think my husband is out golfing in this weather.”