Changed

From basking to bundling up....if you don't like the Texas weather, the saying goes, stick around a bit because it is sure to change.

And change it has. Starting last night, a cold front has blown through, bringing northerly winds and rain and more seasonable temperatures for March. It is 45 degrees outside this morning, we've gotten a half inch of much needed rain, and a freeze warning is posted for tonight.

As I stood watching the rain falling, it struck me how vulnerable an act it was in decades past to try to raise food crops when the weather was not something you could know much more about than what you saw on the horizon any given day.

Not that our predictive powers are THAT good, but we do at least get some generally forecast guidelines. I can't imagine what it must have been like to plant and simply trust that rain would come and/or hard freezes would be safely past.

No wonder they labeled major storms "acts of God". As recently as 60 years ago the appearance of that sort of powerful weather system must have seemed as mysterious and awe inspiring as anything else faced in a human lifespan.

Today I am thankful for the rain. I am glad to live in an era when we seem to be able to forecast what to expect, even if we still seem to live relatively oblivious to our effect upon the earth's atmosphere. Maybe eventually we will call major storms "acts of Man" and accept it is not the unseen hand of God but rather the all too prevalent hand of humankind behind the changes we are experiencing.