Andy Rooney Likes Changes in the Weather

Susie's mother sent me a box of HoneyBell oranges from Florida the other day. It was good of her, but of course sending oranges to those of us up here where it's cold makes them feel better about spending money to live down there where it's warm - most of the time.

We'd all like to control the weather if it were possible - or at the very least, we'd like to be able to predict what the weather was going to be.

It's been cold in Florida this winter. The temperature got into the teens in Tallahassee the other day. The citrus farmers hate cold weather even more than the rest of us do, of course.

I didn't wish a cold snap on the Florida citrus farmers, but it's interesting to see that people, who went down there to be warm, got cold. It's a reminder to them of what it's like for those of us who live up here in the real world.

A lot of people go to the Hawaiian Islands in the winter because they like the weather there. The thing about Hawaii is most of us don't want nice weather all the time. It's boring. Like life, weather should change. You should have to decide in the morning if you ought to wear a coat or bring an umbrella. I even like a heavy snow a couple of times every winter.

Cold days are good because nothing makes us feel better than keeping warm. Challenges - even little ones - make life interesting. Turning up the heat on a frigid day, makes working for money to heat your house seem worthwhile.

Keeping cool in the heat is good too but it isn't as satisfying as staying warm when it's cold. There's something artificial about conditioned air. It feels fake.

When I see a label on a machine that says "climate control," I just smile. It isn't possible to control the climate. The climate goes its own way without worrying about what we want.