THOUGHTFUL ITEMS FOR SCOUTS & SCOUTERS

Thanks to Scouter Jim from Bountiful, Utah, who prepares this section of Baloo for us each month.  You can reach him at bobwhitejonz@juno.com or through the link to write Baloo on www.usscouts.org.   CD

Roundtable Prayer
Roundtable Planning Guide

Great Spirit, thank you for the weather each day.
The storms that show us how to work through our problems,
The Clear skies that brighten our days,
The breezes that bring us the fragrances of our world,
The rains that refresh all living things; and
Allow us to grow in your spirit, Amen.

Weather Watch
Scouter Jim, Bountiful Utah

During February we celebrate Groundhog Day. March is a month when the wind blows.  April is known as a month of rain, followed by May, a month of flowers.

As Cub Scout leaders we are often leading boys in outdoor activities, camping, hiking, cooking or just being outside playing.  It is wise for us to know some important things about weather.

Lightning can and should stop any outdoor activity in its tracks.  A retired Weatherman has written a book on weather and writes the following:

“On any given day some 44,000 thunderstorms rage around the world, with approximately 100 lightning strokes hitting the earth per second.  In the United States, lightning has killed more than 7,500 Americans over the past 40 years, (1939-1979), more than those killed by hurricanes and tornadoes.” Mark Eubank’s UTAH WEATHER, Bountiful, Utah, 1979.

That is not to say, we should let weather always cancel any outdoor activity, but we should seek direction.  At each of our Scouting activities we have two parts to our openings; one honoring country and one honoring God.  It is wise during  our invocation to our Creator, that we ask for guidance and then listen when it comes.

John Newton was a young sailor on a slave ship in the 18th century when during a violent storm he made a promise to God that if he were to survive he would devote his life to God’s service.  He became a minister, and penned the words to one of the most famous of Christian hymns, Amazing Grace.

Weather can be an aid to help us temper the metal of boys into the steal of great men, if we listen to the promptings we feel.

Quotations

Quotations contain the wisdom of the ages, and are a great source of inspiration for Cubmaster’s minutes, material for an advancement ceremony or an insightful addition to a Pack Meeting program cover.

Sunshine is delicious, rain is refreshing, wind braces us up, snow is exhilarating; there is really no such thing as bad weather, only different kinds of good weather.  John Ruskin

A lot of people like snow.  I find it to be an unnecessary freezing of water.  Carl Reiner

The trouble with weather forecasting is that it's right too often for us to ignore it and wrong too often for us to rely on it.  Patrick Young

The best thing one can do when it's raining is to let it rain.  Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

There is no season such delight can bring
As summer, autumn, winter and the spring.
-- William Browne

I played as much golf as I could in North Dakota, but summer up there is pretty short.  It usually falls on Tuesday.  Mike Morley

Some people walk in the rain, others just get wet.  Roger Miller

Rain! whose soft architectural hands have power to cut stones, and chisel to shapes of grandeur the very mountains.  Henry Ward Beecher

Many a man curses the rain that falls upon his head, and knows not that it brings abundance to drive away the hunger.  Saint Basil

A rainy day is the perfect time for a walk in the woods.  Rachel Carson

The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco.  Mark Twain, attributed

Where does the white go when the snow melts?  Author Unknown

A snowflake is one of God's most fragile creations, but look what they can do when they stick together!  Author Unknown

Snowmen fall from heaven... unassembled.  Author Unknown

Bad weather always looks worse through a window.  Author Unknown

There is little chance that meteorologists can solve the mysteries of weather until they gain an understanding of the mutual attraction of rain and weekends.  Arnot Sheppard

I am sure it is a great mistake always to know enough to go in when it rains.  One may keep snug and dry by such knowledge, but one misses a world of loveliness.  Adeline Knapp

Weather Sayings

Old saws and their real meaning

When chairs squeak, it's about rain they speak.

Wooden chairs will absorb moisture from the air when humidity rises. This causes them to squeak.

"When clouds appear like rocks and towers, the earth will be washed by frequent showers."

When there are large tower-like clouds (cumulonimbus clouds), very big storms will occur.

This happens because cumulonimbus clouds are made of water droplets at lower elevations and ice crystals at higher elevations. When the ice crystals or water droplets detach from the clouds and start to fall, they melt and turn into heavy rain.

"When the wind is out of the east,

'Tis neither good for man nor beast."

      Easterly winds usually indicate an approaching weather front or low pressure area. Low pressure generally brings bad weather. Remember that wind is out of the east, a "high" that came from the west has already passed you by, or is currently passing by on the north. A low pressure system is sure to follow since highs and lows usually tend to alternate in progression.

Evening red and morning gray, send the traveler on his way.

Evening gray and morning red, send the traveler wet to bed.

At dusk, a red sky indicates that dry weather is on the way. This is due to the sun shining through dust particles being pushed ahead of a high pressure system bringing in dry air. A red sky in the morning is due to the sun shining through dust. In this case however, the dust is being pushed on out by an approaching low pressure system bringing in moisture. Don't confuse a red sky in the morning with a red sun in the morning. If the sun itself is red and the sky is a normal color, the day will be fair.

"Sea gull, sea gull,

Sitting on the sand;

It's never good weather

When you're on land."

Birds settle on the sand or in trees when bad weather is coming. Some people say it is because the winds are stronger before a rain. Wind makes it harder to fly.

"Rainbow in the morning shepherds take warning,

Rainbow at night shepherds delight."

A rainbow in the morning is formed when light from the rising sun in the east strikes and refracts through the water droplets from a rain cloud in the western sky. Rainbows always occur in the part of the sky opposite the sun. Since most storms come out of the west a rainbow in the western sky is a sign of rain. A rainbow in the eastern sky as would occur in the evening is a sign that rain passed.

"When sounds travel far and wide, a stormy day will betide"

Sound travels at different speeds through different substances. It travels faster through a solid substance then it does through air, for instance. Sound travels better in air that is heavily laden with moisture than it does in dry air.

“I know ladies by the score whose hair foretells the storm;

Long before it begins to pour their curls take a drooping form."

Human hair, especially blond hair, has a tendency to expand In length as the humidity rises. This may cause naturally curly hair to droop. Or it may cause straight hair to curl up a little. The higher the humidity, the more likely it is to rain.

Moss dry, sunny sky; moss wet, rain we'll get.

Moss is like a sponge that soaks up water from the air. When moss feels very wet, it may rain.

When clouds look like black smoke , a wise man will put on his cloak.

Thick clouds laden with droplets of water look darker than the fair weather cumulus clouds.

When dew is on the grass, rain will never come to pass.

When dew is on the grass it means the air above is cool and dry and the air near the ground is warm and damp.

"The owls hoot peacocks toot, ducks quack Frogs Yak , 'Twill rain. The loons call swallows fall, Chickens hover Groundhogs take cover 'Twill rain."

Most animals are more sensitive than we are to changes in the pressure, temperature, and humidity of the air. Some changes in the weather, such as the low pressure and increased humidity before a storm, may make animals uncomfortable, restless, and noisy. Their behavior tells us the weather is soon to change.

Weather Humor

What is the Mexican weather report?
Chili today and hot tamale.

It was autumn, and the Indians on the remote reservation asked their new Chief if the winter was going to be cold or mild. Since he was a new Indian Chief in a modern society, he had never been taught the old secrets, and when he looked at the sky, he couldn't tell what the weather was going to be. Nevertheless, to be on the safe side, he replied to his tribe that the winter was indeed going to be cold and that the members of the village should collect wood to be prepared. But also being a practical leader, after several days he got an idea. He went to the phone booth, called the National Weather Service and asked,

"Is the coming winter going to be cold?"

"It looks like this winter is going to be quite cold indeed," the meteorologist at the weather service responded.

So the Chief went back to his people and told them to collect even more wood in order to be prepared. A week later he called the National Weather Service again.

"Is it going to be a very cold winter?"

"Yes," the man at National Weather Service again replied, "it's going to be a very cold winter."

The Chief again went back to his people and ordered them to collect every scrap of wood they could find. Two weeks later he called the National Weather Service again.

"Are you absolutely sure that the winter is going to be very cold?"

"Absolutely," the man replied. "It's going to be one of the coldest winters ever."

"How can you be so sure?" the Chief asked.

The weatherman replied, "The Indians are collecting wood like crazy!"

Although he was a qualified meteorologist, Hopkins ran up a terrible record of forecasting for the TV news program. He became something of a local joke when a newspaper began keeping a record of his predictions and showed that he'd been wrong almost three hundred times in a single year. That kind of notoriety was enough to get him fired. He moved to another part of the country and applied for a similar job. One blank on the job application called for the reason for leaving his previous position. Hopkins wrote, "The climate didn't agree with me."

The Michaels family owned a small farm in Canada, just yards away from the North Dakota border. Their land had been the subject of a minor dispute between the United States and Canada for generations. Mrs. Michaels, who had just celebrated her ninetieth birthday, lived on the farm with her son and three grandchildren.

One day, her son came into her room holding a letter. "I just got some news, Mom," he said. "The government has come to an agreement with the people in Washington. They've decided that our land is really part of the United States. We have the right to approve or disapprove of the agreement. What do you think?"

"What do I think?" his mother said. "Jump at it! Call them right now and tell them we accept! I don't think I could stand another one of those Canadian winters!"

It was so hot today I saw a robin picking earthworms out of the ground with a pair of tongs.

What happens when the fog lifts in California? UCLA.

How to predict weather in Seattle: If you can see Mt Ranier, it's going to rain. If not, it already is.

An honest weatherman says, "Today's forecast is bright and sunny with an 80% chance that I'm wrong."

First cave man to 2nd cave man: "I don't care what you say. We never had such unusual weather before they started using bows and arrows."

Nate: "Hey, what's the weather like out there?"   Kate: "I don't know. I'll tell you when it clears."

Why did the lady go out doors with her purse open?          Because she expected some change in the weather.

There's a technical term for a sunny, warm day which follows two rainy days. It's called Monday

Q) How do you spot a happy motorcyclist in fair weather?

A) He's got bugs on his teeth.

Whatever happened to that cow that was lifted into the air by the tornado.

Udder disaster!

Q) What's worse than raining buckets?

A) Hailing taxis!

One summer evening during a violent thunderstorm a mother was tucking her small boy into bed. She was about to turn off the light when he asked with a tremor in his voice, "Mommy, will you sleep with me tonight?" The mother smiled and gave him a reassuring hug. "I can't dear," she said. "I have to sleep in Daddy's room."

A long silence was broken at last by a shaken little voice saying, "The big sissy."