The Weather Radio

It's official.

I'm married to a closet meteorologist.

Thanks to the purchase of a new, fancy-schmancy weather radio- which sits oh-so-gloriously (ha, ha) on my kitchen counter, resembling an old-timey answering machine- Joe has become even more obsessed with the weather. I do not blame him, only tease him, because we are dependent upon the weather, but SERIOUSLY! Lucky for us, it only goes off if there are storms in THREE counties, instead of just one, since we live just a few miles from two other county lines. Note the sarcasm?

Anyway, because of last year's truly close tornado call and all the recent devestating weather in Joplin, MO, Joe has become more and more obsessed with the weather. So much that the radar on his phone was lighting up our bedroom as I got up to feed Jack at 2AM. A rain was coming, so we needed to know to shut our windows, so I guess that's okay, but I'm beginning to wonder if I need to have a weather-related intervention with him.

I understand completely the affects of the weather conditions on farmer's bottom lines, general disposition, and psyche. I understand that we need to know the breadth of a storm, to know whether or not we need to duck and cover. However, what can we do about it? As a control freak, it is very bizarre that I am of this opinion, I know, but we cannot control the weather. We cannot go out and hover over our corn plants to protect them from hail. We can go to the basement to save our skins, and from a crop production standpoint, we can buy crop-hail insurance, which, if you're in need, I know a good agent (Ha, ha, again), but that's about it. So, why the obsession?

Why the need to worry, stand in the window, observe the clouds, comment enough to make the kids nervous and report on the weather themselves. In a kindergarten setting, I am sure that Anna answered more specifically the question of "is it sunny or cloudy," as she reported today, from Joe's parents' house, "There was a lot of rain, Daddy. Pappy needs a hug."

I tease Joe out of love, but completely understand the frustration the weather brings. We are solely dependent upon it during these vital weeks of growth. If our corn gets a good start and the beans are able to poke through and be sprayed at the right time, and there's no wind, hail, excessive rain, heat or cold, we should be okay to pay for the spray, seed, equipment, and kids we have on our operation.

So, I will put up with the excessive beeping of our weather radio, and the "shush" I receive when the weather report comes on the evening news.

Here's hoping the 2AM radar checks stop soon...that seems a bit crazy, right?