The farmer's weather forecast proves he's a poet

By Maynard van der Galien

I thought only farmers and outdoorsy people listened to weather forecasts. Not so. Ninety per cent of Canadians start their day checking the weather on television, the radio or the Internet.

Farmers have a vested interest in knowing the weather in the days ahead. Older farmers forecast the weather by watching the cows. "A cow with its tail to the west makes the weather best." But "a cow with its tail to the east makes the weather least."

When cattle are grazing it’s a different story. They are not pushed around by the winds if the grazing is good.

Other farmers, like my father, always observed the sky. First thing in the morning he’d check the sky and in the evening he’d look at how the sun set. If it set in a "nest" – a dirty sky that resembled a mare’s tail or a painter’s brushes — it was a sign of rain. Big black clouds, however, didn’t mean rain. Red sky in the morning was a sign of rain. Red sky in the evening meant nice weather ahead. (Red sky in morning, sailor take warning. Red sky at night, sailor’s delight). A ring around the sun or moon means there is moisture in the air. When our south side front barn door blew shut during milking, it was a sure sign of rain ahead.

I always thought Father knew the weather better than the weather forecasters. I remember the important sayings he taught me. Many were in Dutch such as this one: Avondrood, morgen mooi weer aan bood, ochtendrood vanavond water in den sloot. (Loose translation to get the rhyme: Evening red and weather fine. Morning red, of rain’s a sign)

His other favorites:

• Rain before seven, quits by 11.

• A wind from the south has rain in her mouth.

• Rain from the east, two wet days at least.

• If a circle forms around the moon, it will rain soon.

• Cats and dogs eat grass before a rain.

• The higher the clouds, the finer the weather.

• When dew is on the grass, rain will never come to pass.

• When grass is dry at morning light, look for rain before the night.

• Cold is the night when the stars shine bright.

• There were mares’ tails sayings and so on. He didn’t look at the thickness of onion skins, or the height of wasp nests – that kind of stuff.

When I was 16 years old I worked in construction – about 100 miles from home — and boarded nearby. For nine months our crew (plumbers and steam pipe fitters) worked 13 ½ hour days — 63 hours a week. Friday we quit at four and went home for the weekend. I’d help out on the farm and go back Sunday night.

Gerty, an elderly spinster, owned and ran the boarding house that housed 10 construction workers for four or five nights a week. She was a tiny bent-over woman. We’d be at work at 7 a.m., come back to the boarding house for supper and then work until 10 p.m., have a snack and go to bed. We often had fun during meals when we’d talk about the upcoming weather. Gerty had no use for weather lore.

Hard as we tried, none us could convince her that there is some truth to the "weather lore" sayings.

Half of the boarders were from Quebec –outdoorsy lads – and they could get Gerty worked up. Lionel would say, "Gerty, we’re in for some rain because the crickets are chirping." Then Andre the welder would pipe in saying he saw a ring around the moon last night and Desmond would tell her that he saw "sheep standing in a huddle, tomorrow we’ll have a puddle." I’d add about the barn door blowing shut.

And so it went. Gerty would shake her head in disgust. "I can’t believe you guys," she would say. "How can you believe that kind of stuff?" Gerty always thought we were pulling her leg.

Mares’ tails or painter’s brush are cirrus clouds, called this because they sometimes resemble the flowing tail of a horse in the wind. Mackerel scales are altocumulus clouds. They appear broken and scaly. Neither of these clouds will bring rain or snow. They do, however, precede an approaching storm front by a day or two.

Father taught me to observe the sky. Gerty’s dad obviously didn’t!