Winter temps in the Isles

Patty Griffith, composer and artist - Rain

We are having an unusually warm winter in my neck of the woods. Global warming I guess. For the past week, day time temps have been around 70°F. Yep, that's not a typo. 70°F. It's Spring in January. The birds are all a twitter. The nights dip down to freezing, but no rain. Zip. Nadda. I feel a bit guilty about enjoying how lovely it is to feel the warmth, when we desperately need rain. A friend of mind drove north past Mount Shasta and she told me the mountain looks bare-just a small amount of snow near the top. A mild storm is expected to come in off the Pacific the day after tomorrow and any precipitation, however small, is welcomed.

Not a day goes by that I don't think of the little Hebridean islands' landscape and weather, as they are so intertwined. Sometimes when I am driving about town the familiar photos come to mind. I wonder what the day holds on the islands. The gray sky and gale force winds, the rain and snow, the surf, the openness.... and the people in the houses scattered about the rocky land. Pretty fantastic and real images. I don't talk about it much, as no one would quite understand.

Today's weather report for Isle of Skye: Mostly cloudy to cloudy in the evening, becoming dense overcast after midnight. Patchy light fog in the evening. A chance of a mix of snow and rain in the evening, then a mix of snow and rain likely after midnight. Low 1°. Wind chill down to -5. Wind west around 25 mph, gusting to 37 mph. Chance of precipitation 80 percent. Precipitation (liquid equivalent) mostly between 5 and 10 mm. Little or no snow accumulation expected.

Skye's weather is famous for being changeable, and I imagine it is pretty much really, really cold throughout the islands. Winter in the Hebrides is serious. And on flat South Uist where my own Margaret lived with no mountain to block the winds off the sea, winter was/is a force to respect. You would not ever think of turning someone away at your door; a visitor might very well stay a while to keep warm and dry. Hence, playing music, singing and storytelling were/are a way of life. One would never send anyone back out into the elements without first a hot cup of tea and a bite to eat (strupak). It is much more than just being polite, it's common sense. The islanders have all the modern electronics, some more than I as I still use rabbit ears, but when a storm takes down your electric power, it's back to board and card games. They are probably the best read people on the planet. And, of course there's gotta be a whole lot of lovemaking going on as well. The schools must have a plethora of birthdays to celebrate in the Fall.

I try to imagine what "Low 1°. Wind chill down to -5" feels like. I suppose it is much like the heat. Hot is hot. Temps can climb to 115°F every summer, but I feel no substantial difference after say, 105°F. It's just hot. One just gets used to the extreme. Perhaps freezing cold is the same. Cold is cold. Hot and cold - opposites but the same. Interconnected. Yin and yang.

Tomorrow the 'dark cloud' lifts from my country. Barack Obama will be sworn in as our 44th President. So many hopes, from all around the world, rest on his shoulders.