Weathering social media
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The other day it snowed. I knew this because I looked out of the window and saw snow falling out of the sky. In case I wasn’t sure, however, I had Facebook to confirm it. I don't log on to Facebook very often, but for whatever reason, I was inclined to do so that day. Amongst the usual banality that would normally serve to remind my why my visits are so infrequent, I could count dozens of weather-related comments, all of which could be paraphrased to "it's snowing". Thankfully most also provided photo evidence in case there weren't any windows to hand and the words "it's snowing" still drew blanks.
What normally happens when it snows in Coventry is that it lands on already wet ground and starts to melt. Being the most inland city in the UK, we manage to avoid much of the more extreme weather. Regardless of what direction it arrived from, chances are the worst of it has petered out by the time it gets to us. If we get really bad weather in Coventry, you can bet anything that someone else in the UK has had it worse. A snow storm that cuts off entire villages in the countryside will probably only make my journey home a bit longer in Coventry. But it does snow. And when it does, chances are we'll still close the schools.
I'm not really complaining. While it would be nice to get a few free 'snow days' where I get to stay at home, on the whole I'm glad we don't get to see nature at its worst. A flood in Coventry is more likely to be down to bad drainage than anything else. Even at its deepest you could probably walk through it without getting your knees wet. A snow storm here makes things look pretty and doesn't mean we need to live on canned goods until help arrives. And while the wind-borne weather might lose its enthusiasm by the time it gets to us, the sun still knows how to do its thing during our week of summer.
As Facebook was eager to point out, on this occasion the snow did settle. We didn't have a lot. Even where I live on the outskirts, it wasn't deep enough to give my socks anything to worry about. But it did settle. There was enough to roll into little balls and throw. There was even enough to roll into bigger balls and decorate with coal, carrots and scarfs. I didn't do either of these things, but the option was there. The most I did was sweep what I could off the drive with a broom. I didn't even have the urge to roll anything. I think that’s a sign that I'm a home owner. That and the house.
Social media has made it much easier to find out what the weather is like and, to some extent, to see what people are eating. While the latter I can ignore when I'm not hungry, the former serves only to baffle. While I'm never far away from my iPhone these days, I shudder to imagine a point where it is significantly more difficult to look out of a window than it is to check Facebook. If I ever need to resort to that, I would assume I'm either recovering from a serious injury or that euthanasia options have already been discussed.
It snowed briefly again yesterday. Facebook told me that too, but as I was facing a window at the time, I knew in advance. The weather reports (the real ones, not the Facebook ones) say it probably won't snow again now. Each time I look out of the window, I can already see signs that the snow on the ground is starting to melt. But obviously I'm still going to wait for Facebook to confirm that before I take it as fact.