Monday, May 10, 2010

Blackberry Winter

It's been cold, damp, rainy weather in the Midwest for the past few days. I asked the question on my Facebook status: If the warm weather of late fall is "Indian Summer", what is the cold weather of late spring?

I got several responses that said it's called "Blackberry Winter" as the cold snap coincides with the blackberry blossoms of early to mid May. Sure enough, we are having a Blackberry Winter. The good news is that it is not expected to last and it really isn't all that cold. The cold air from the north and warm air from the south are making for some severe weather. Tornadoes in Oklahoma claimed several lives and caused a lot of property damage on Monday afternoon. I've written about the Springfield Plateau before. This geographic rise seems to send a lot of weather north and south of us as storm systems seem to break up as they hit the western edge of the plateau.

Oh, we still get our share of severe weather in the spring and summer but it is pretty amazing to watch the weather radar at work as many storms start to break up as they hit Missouri's western boundary. I thought that we were in for some severe weather tonight when I left work but we didn't even get any rain. There was a little thunder and lightning but not much else.

I'm hoping for a good weather day tomorrow as I make the 3 hour drive to Jefferson City, MO to meet with some other evangelists and MBC staff to talk about our ministry to the people of Missouri. I'm looking forward to sharing ideas with these guys, although I'm not really sure why I've been invited. I know that I'm the current president of the Fellowship of Missouri Baptist Evangelists, but that's just because the other guys are too busy and I wasn't quick enough (or smart enough) to say no. In any case, I love hanging out with these guys and secretly hope that some of their smarts, and some of their fire will rub off on me.

Well I need to be on the road in about six hours so I'd better call it a day and grab a little sleep. Meetings and travel tomorrow and back to work the mid-shift tomorrow night.

Try not to fret about the cold--it didn't freeze so we'll still have plenty of blackberries to enjoy this summer!

John

2 comments:

Mike said...

I had forgotten about you talking about the Springfield Plateau. It may be working for you right now but the heavy stuff has been sneaking in underneath it and hammering St. Louis recently.

Claudia said...

Re: your position with MBC... I was at one of my doctor's offices for a check-up today and she was saying how she was being hit up to become President of the local chapter of a national organization, and she didn't want to get involved in politics at all. Apparently she has to run for election to do it. I agreed that volunteering for office is a lot easier & I think it indicates just as much love for the work.