What is your favorite type of weather?

This is in response to a post prompt from Jetpack. Most Sydneysiders would pick sunny conditions as their fave. After all, summertime is all of three months. For most of the year, the weather tends to be colder. Summer then means swimming, surfing, and heading to the beaches. I notice here that peeps love to sun bake. Anything to get a good tan. While white skin is king of the Orient, Aussies prefer tanned complexion. Whenever the sun is out, there’s a steady stream of commuters and oldies, to name a few. Of course, the great outdoors are made for the clear days.

Rainy conditions

No one with half a brain would select rainy weather. When it rains, the cavalry takes cover. You wouldn’t chance on a senior going out and about. You wouldn’t see cyclists pushing their limits. You wouldn’t see cute women doing their morning runs. When the sun is away, the cats stay at bay. Rainy days bring back memories of chicken soup and spicy dishes. I feel nostalgic about the dozens of books I read overseas while I was in high school. The wet weather was the perfect excuse to binge read, most especially when class was cancelled. The Harry Potter series, Lord of the Rings, and Jurassic Park were but some of the texts I consumed during rainy days.

There are some sports where the action continues in spite of adverse conditions. Rugby and Aussie rules are the first ones that come to mind. Whether it’s the NRL ((National Rugby League) or the Rugby World Cup, ‘the show must go on.’ In the US, it’s even more impressive. American football matches are sometimes held while it’s snowing, as the calendar coincides with winter. I remember watching the OJ Simpson doco. They were playing in Buffalo in spite of the freezing conditions.

Rainy weather forces you to bring brollies (umbrellas). My auntie always has hers on her pack. ‘You neva know’, she says. Depending on the size of your brolly, it could be cumbersome. If you carry a golf umbrella, it’s another thing to remember. Meanwhile, a smaller brolly might be handier but it wouldn’t shield you as much from the rain. You must have the right getup. In autumn and winter, opt for a jumper and hoodie instead of a tee. Wear pants and not shorts. If possible, tread with leather shoes instead of canvas, suede, or synthetics. The former is commonly regarded as the best footwear material for wet weather.

My weather

For your information, overcast weather is my kind of condition. It’s somewhat middling, between hot and rainy. It’s as if the sun is deciding whether to come out or hide. I recall talking about the weather in a job interview. The interviewee told me that she prefers the sun. I responded by saying that I opt for cloudy conditions. A few years past, I shared this excellent result I normed for this college organ. It was the perfect morning for me, a cloudy one with a cool breeze.

The weather inspired me. That Saturday, I was able to write with a vengeance. Some of the entrants were probably wondering why I was scribbling so furiously. As it turns out, despite my brevity, I was the first to finish. I turned in my work well before time was up. I felt good about the end result. On Monday, the results were posted outside the paper’s office. I finished third out of sixteen examinees. Not bad for a frosh. The outcome impressed some of my classmates. They didn’t knew that I could write. Indeed, I bested some upperclassmen. One of my sister’s friends admitted that she was shocked. ‘Your brother seemed to finish in record time’.

Wind gusts

If you think many people despise the rain, most souls loathe the wind. I once overheard this guy Bret saying ‘Rain is my second least liked weather, after windy. If it’s rainy AND windy, that’s a double whammy’. It’s not just students and workers who are against the wind. Even tennis players are not fans. It’s hard to serve and land your ground strokes when the air keeps getting in your way. Once, I heard that Lleyton was once the tour’s best wind players. He promptly followed up this pronouncement by beating a much bigger opponent. They both contended with the wind.

Even in night matches in Melbourne, the wind plays a key role in determining the outcome. Commentators often comment about the impact of ‘the breeze’. If you’re facing the wind, chances are you’ll run into trouble. This is especially crucial when playing tie breaks. Every point counts. The best resolve is to win as much points before the change of ends after the sixth point. Recently, the rain has not been as worrisome to grand slams. Apart from the French Open, all centre courts now utilise a retractable roof.

Cry me the weather

Whether you prefer sunny or cloudy conditions, we breathe the same air and live in a slice of the planet. Many are against the wind and showers, as they limit our outdoor jaunts. When I visited Auckland and Melbourne, I came to appreciate the Sydney conditions more. While the former always trends on the world’s most liveable cities, the weather there could be unpredictable. Even my tour companions said that the climate was only ‘slightly better than London’. Meanwhile, I heard that it rarely pours in LA. The weather is often the same: sunny. Whereas the weather could be a good conversation starter in other areas, cars are more preferable in sunny Cal as the weather is constantly hot.

Thankfully, the sun was up today. From Topher to the world: Have a joyous Easter and a safe long weekend.