They must hate weather

Last night was the big kick-off for our town’s holiday shopping season. Each year the merchants sponsor three weekends of special events and open house type affairs with hors d’oeuvres and drinks of various sorts. In a good year, the downtown is mobbed and people come from miles around to see the sights, eat the food, and listen to the street performers. And, of course, buy, buy, buy. It’s a big event. Except when weather interferes. The merchants always eye the heavens with a bit of trepidation, wondering what the weather gods are going to throw at them when the big day arrives.

They’ve had kind of a run of bad luck the past few years. One year we had three weekend nor’easters in a row with snow that wouldn’t quit. The next year it was so bitterly cold and windy that any exposed skin was fair game for frostbite within minutes. And last night? Well, it just poured rain with wind that made the rain fall sideways.

A friend and I were planning on going down to partake, but trooping around in the weather wasn’t very appealing so we went out to dinner instead. Afterwards, we swung by downtown to see if anyone was out and the streets were almost deserted. The lights blazed in all the shops and it all looked so festive, but very few people were willing to brave the elements. It must have been most disappointing for the merchants. Next weekend they’ll try again.

The weather persons on the area television stations were in a state of absolute ecstasy yesterday. Every station had crawlers at the bottom of the screen telling us how we were going to be blown to the next county in the evening hours. Dire predictions of crashing thunder storms and near hurricane force winds had people in a state of anxiety. Weather forecasters broke into programming every few minutes to update us on the direness of the situation. They even warned that people should bring in Christmas decorations and anything that wasn’t securely nailed down. The excited gleam in their eyes was unmistakable.

I don’t know how other areas fared, but all we got was rain and just enough wind to make the rain miserable. All in all, pretty much a bust for everyone in this neck of the woods.

Dinner was tasty, though.