Conspiracy?

After looking at the weather forecast for St. Paul next weekend, I couldn't help but wonder if there is a conspiracy afoot. It is forecasting a chance of rain Saturday, Saturday night, Sunday night and Monday - every forecast period except Sunday which is sunny and perfect running weather, which coincidentally is when the marathon is taking place. Hmmmm.

It brought two memories to mind.

One was a fateful trip to Bayfield's Applefest with my friend Wendi. We were intending to spend 3 glorious days there. Now, those of you have been to Bayfield know that if outdoor activities are out, there isn't a whole lot to do. The moment we arrived it started to pour. That evening we started asking our B&B hostess what the weather forecast was (conveniently there was no TV or radio in our rooms or the common area). Her reply always was "I am sure it is going to turn beautiful". After the 5th time it was hard not to retort back "I don't care what you think, I want to know what the meteorologist thinks!" Needless to say we left early and went to the nearby Hellman cabin where at least we could watch rented movies!

The second one is very relevant for this time of year. Long ago the Forestry Division (who I work for) was responsible for providing the Department of Tourism with the fall color forecast. One year staff reported that the fall colors would not be particularly stunning for various weather and precipitation reasons. Soon they got a call from s another, more powerful state office, who shall not be named here, informing them that, in fact, the fall colors would be spectacular... in fact EVERY year they would be spectacular. There is a lot of power in those tourism dollars...at least that is how the story goes....

But I am sure that in actuality good weather will prevail and we will have a beautiful day for the Marathon... but I might check a few other weather sites just to make sure....