Whatever the Weather

Whether the weather be cold,
Or whether the weather be hot,
We'll weather the weather
Whatever the weather,
Whether we like it or not!
Traditional

I thought I’d put together Anne’s Lens-Artist Challenge #286 – Weather – with the aid of children’s rhymes.

Rain, rain, go away,
Come again another day.
Rain, rain, go to Spain,
Never show your face again!
Traditional
A shot taken not in England, but in Bavaria, Germany

It’s not just children who’d willingly sing this these days. In the UK it’s rained pretty much constantly all this year. But in Spain, they’d cheerfully take some of our surplus. In Catalonia, in mid-winter, the reservoirs are a mere 16% full, and water-use restrictions are in place.

When the wind is in the east
'tis neither good for man nor beast. 
When the wind is in the north, 
the skilful fisher goes not forth. 
When the wind is in the south, 
it blows the bait in the fishes' mouth. 
When the wind is in the west, 
then 'tis at the very best.
Traditional
A particularly windy May morning near home.
The fog comes
on little cat feet.

It sits looking
over harbour and city
on silent haunches
and then moves on.
Carl Sandburg

I can’t claim that Carl Sandburg’s is a children’s rhyme. I couldn’t think of one. Can you?

Fog slowly lifting near Burnsall, Wharfedale
The north wind doth blow,
and we shall have snow,
and what will the robin do then, poor thing?
He'll sit in a barn,
and keep himself warm,
and hide his head under his wing, poor thing!
Traditional.
The field-just-down-the-road one January.

This hardly-there snow is pretty typical of wintry conditions in England. And I know that a robin lives pretty close by: this field almost qualifies as my back yard.

The robin -just-down-the-road, not in January
Red and yellow and pink and green,
purple and orange and blue:
I can sing a rainbow,
sing a rainbow,
sing a rainbow too.
Arthur Hamilton

All three of my children used to sing this one – often – at assembly in primary school. I wonder if it’s still going strong?

Lofthouse in Nidderdale, North Yorkshire.

So that’s it. Oh, hang on, I’ve forgotten something. Sunshine. Well, I would, wouldn’t I? It’s February in England, and famously sunless. Let’s show British sunlight, rather than the full-on sun of the holiday of our dreams.

It’s September. The schools have gone back, so here is a sunny beach, gloriously (almost) empty in Filey, North Yorkshire

And most children can sing the less-than-traditional The Sun Has Got His Hat On by Noel Gay. So let’s leave you with this cheery version.

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Author: margaret21

I'm retired and live in North Yorkshire, where I walk , write, volunteer and travel as often as I can.

60 thoughts on “Whatever the Weather”

  8. Oh I do like this, Saturday morning and I am glad I clicked. Our weather of late has been different, too. Warm, then bone chilling cold this morning. 11 F / -12 C this morning, clear skies and I could see the Big Dipper when I let the dogs out to go this morning. The week ahead has temps in the mid 50s and sunshine. Stay well, enjoy what comes, peace.

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  9. A clever idea to include the rhymes, and as I like that Sandberg poem I’ll certainly let it pass! The foggy shot is great and I also love the rain in Bavaria, but my favourite is the double rainbow over Nidderdale 🌈🌈

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      1. Well yes and no! We left sunny Oaxaca first thing this morning to fly north via Mexico City to Chihuahua. It was lovely and sunny on arrival in the latter too, but there was rain in Mexico City. We didn’t get wet in the airport, of course, but unfortunately my suitcase did and several of my clothes are now spread around our hotel room in an effort to get them dry before we have to pack and move on again in the morning!

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  10. What fun and such a unique idea for the theme. I always remember the rain, rain go away had something to do with mother’s washing day! And one of my favourites is “It’s raining, it’s pouring, The old man is snoring. He went to bed and he bumped his head, And couldn’t get up in the morning.”

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  12. Well Margaret you surely nailed this one! I loved that a)you covered most all kinds of weather and b)you found children’s rhymes for nearly all of them. Your images are wonderful (and a DOUBLE rainbow no less) and the rhymes brought a smile to my face and a recognition that even our very oldest memories are still there! Kudos, loved this one.

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  16. What a wonderful post, I love it when words and pictures come together this way. I have a tendency mostly to take photos, when the sun is shining, but your pics representing rain and fog are very atmospheric.

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