Are you a fair weather person?

[Ann]

In the "Weather" thread in the Open Space forum, Orin Stepanek recently said this:

What can I say; I'm a fair weather person!

This statement hasn't left me, generating mental responses in my mind like "Well, aren't we all?" and "Are there people who aren't?"

Click to view full size image

Reed Timmer. Photo: Dick McGowan/ Discovery Storm Chasers

And yes... there are people who aren't.

The man pointing at the tornado in this picture is Reed Timmer, who lives for chasing storms. He sometimes gets beaten up while doing it - you can see that he's bleeding from a fresh wound in this picture - but to him it's worth it. He never feels more alive than when the deadly wrath of nature is only two hundred yards away. Read more here.

Okay, I can understand that... no, really, I can't. But a tiny part of me, perhaps one per cent of me, can somehow sympathize. (The other 99% of me are screaming in horror that that madwoman percentage of me ought to be locked up at the bottom of the Mariana Trench so that she can never get out again.)

Photo: James Jordan

But extreme weather chasers like Reed Timmer are going to experience fair weather much of the time, since there aren't enough hurricanes around, at least not in the United States, for them to constantly be in the presence of one. After someone like Reed Timmer is done getting his hurricane adrenaline rush, he can rest, heal his wounds and recharge his batteries in calm and pleasant weather.


What about those who are willing to give up the very idea of fair weather? Forever?

This illustration of a manned mission to Mars is, I believe, from the 1970s. Read more about the context of the image here.

I chose this picture of men on Mars because the picture looks so desolate, grim and foreboding. In reality, the weather on Mars is likely to be, well, "fair". If you follow the link I provided, you can find a weather forecast for Mars:

Fine and sunny; very cold; winds light and variable; further outlook similar.

All right! Yes! Fine and sunny most of the time, yes, but just unbelievably cold. Unbelievably cold! You are hardly ever expected to experience above-freezing temperatures on Mars. And you can't breathe, because there is no oxygen! And the air pressure is so low that you can never get outside without wearing your spacesuit even if you are breathing from an oxygen tank, or so I think anyway. And because there is no ozone layer in the atmosphere, the Sun's ultraviolet light is really hazardous on Mars.

Mars is unlivable for humans. Maybe possibly maybe we can some day terraform it. Until then, it's a place where you can never venture outside without a full space suit. And yet, can you believe it, there are people who are talking about sending astronauts on a one-way mission to Mars! The first astronauts would be sent to Mars and live out their lives on that totally forbidding planet - yes, forbidding for us humans!

Those astronauts would give up the idea of fair weather. They would give up the idea of ever again being in outdoor conditions where you can survive without specially designed and bulky protection. They would give up the idea of ever returning to a place where you could live outdoor without specially designed and bulky protection.

Greenland. Source: http://www.guideoftravels.com/dogsled-in-greenland.html

Greenland. Greenland on the Earth. It's cold up here. In the winter, you can't possibly venture out for long without bulky protection if you don't want to die of cold. But you can always breathe. Yes, the air is cold, and the coldness of the air might hurt your respiratory tracts, but there are ways to protect yourself from that. But there is always oxygen to breathe, and the air pressure is always acceptable, and summer will come to Greenland, too, when it will be much warmer.

And you can always leave Greenland and go somewhere else on the Earth, where it is warmer.

Imagine going to Mars to stay. No part of me, no percentage of me, can understand that urge.

Ann

[rstevenson]

I would gladly open the first donut shop on Mars. Supplies, though, would be even more limited than customers. And I think I'd better wait to open the drive-through. But I'm definitely one of those people, Ann.

Rob

[owlice]

I know a few people I'd like sent one-way to Mars, but I doubt they would appreciate the destination. They like doughnuts, though, so Rob, should Earth lose you (alas for us), there'd be customers for you!!

[orin stepanek]

My company once sent me to Mexico City; and the weather there was fair weather the year round! It was an amazing experience1

[Moonlady]

I know a few people I'd like sent one-way to Mars, but I doubt they would appreciate the destination. They like doughnuts, though, so Rob, should Earth lose you (alas for us), there'd be customers for you!!

Owlice please please do not poison Mars with bad people ! Sent them to a black hole

[BMAONE23]

I really am an All Weather person. I like the differing aspects of all types of weather.
High Winds...causes the trees to move, creak, and makes the leaves talk
Light Rain...leaves a pleasant odor behind (first rain too)
Heavy Rain...washes the gutters clean
Torrential Rain...tends to remove deadwood and replenishes water supplies
Hurricanes...causes beautiful images of Pounding Surf
Tornados...Fascinating spirals of doom (clears out old trailer parks making room for newer models)
(I would probably be a storm chaser if I lived in that part of the country)
Snow storms...YEA (hot cocoa, Skiing, Snowboarding, hot tubs, snowmen)
Clear skies, moderate temps, breezes...Picnics, Kites, beach combing, bikinis

[Beyond]

Whata buncha posts GREAT STUFF Gives me an idea for a new donut for Rob to make. A black-hole donut. Pass them out to the 'nasty' people on the planet. One bite and the donuts black hole swallows them up. A lot cheaper and easier than trying to send them to mars.

[BMAONE23]

Black Hole Donut sounds like an excellent last meal for Death Row inmates

[saturno2]

Off topic
It is a rare coincidence of name
I admire and respect very much to many intelligent women who call Ann:

Ann from Sweden Activity Astronomy
Ann of the Water from Spain Astronomy
Ann Vidovic Acoustic guitar
Ann Popovic Electric guitar

[Chris Peterson]

In the "Weather" thread in the Open Space forum, Orin Stepanek recently said this:

What can I say; I'm a fair weather person! :wink:

This statement hasn't left me, generating mental responses in my mind like "Well, aren't we all?" and "Are there people who aren't?"

And yes... there are people who aren't.

Semantics, maybe. Perhaps it's just a question of what people consider "fair".

I find a sunny 70°F day to be unpleasantly hot, and avoid doing much outside. It's not what I'd call a fair day. I look forward to a sunny 30°F day or a snowy 20°F day in the winter, or a drizzly 60° day in the summer. Both are fair in my book. For the most part, if I can dress in a way that allows me to be comfortable, I generally consider the weather to be fair.

[saturno2]

I think that the right is to be a fair weather person and not fair weather
person.
Why?
Because the life is day and night , black and white, small and big,
happy and not happy, . . .