Atmospheric Culture

Melanated Glow

By Melanated Glow

Our bodies can predict the weather. Our experiences allow us to know when it is about to rain or when we can expect a hot day based on what we see and feel in that moment. Sometimes we know if the rain will be short or long by just looking at the sky. There are always signs of the incoming that we can connect to when being connected to nature. I remember being younger and hearing the elders speak of rain because they felt it in their bodies. As a child I did not understand what that meant, but as I got older, I began to understand. We are connected to the World in a way that we innately know certain things if we pay attention to what is going on around us.

In times past we moved more dependent on the weather. There were things that we did or did not do based upon the appearance of the sky. For example, although my grandmother loved talking on the phone, she did not touch the phone if it was thundering and lightning. We also turned the television off during that time. We “respected” what Mother Nature was doing. I recall being taught about how lightning strikes and how being under a tall tree would make us a target to get struck by lightning. People in those days were struck by lightning. The CDC reported that from 1980-1995 there were an average of 82 deaths from lightning a year causing more deaths than hurricanes and tornadoes. At that time, the numbers decreased from what was reported in the 50s. This average number has continued to decline to 27 fatalities yearly recorded from 2009-2018.

One perspective of the decline could be that we have become more informed of how lightning operates so that we are more cautious to not become a victim a lightning strike. This would mean that we passed down what we learned to the next generation and made changes to our behaviors so that we operate safely. If this was the case, younger people would at least know to move differently during bad weather. Based on observation, this is not the case. People today are on their cell phones all the time, including during bad weather. Some people never turn off their device. We also drive in all types of weather, then what is the reason for the decline in deaths with such a natural phenomenon?

When was the last time you sat through a good storm? What I say good storm, when was the last time you saw the sky get completely dark in the daylight hours with lightning striking through the sky to where you hear the crackle through your home and your body? That lightning storm that makes you know that nature is in control and powerful. Some young people may say never., but older people remember the type of thunderstorm I am referring to. We have not experienced that in a very long time. There are so many pollutants in the sky and the air that the system has changed.

When I was a child, the cloud formations were more fluid. They made a different image within seconds. I remember looking in the sky with family and friends to see if we see the same dinosaur, mermaid, castle, or whatever image the cloud formation resembled before it changed to something else. It happened that fast. In elementary or primary school, we learned the different types of cloud formations: cirrus, stratus, and cumulus. When we look at the sky now, the movement is not nearly as fluid.

Speaking to an elder in the community, Elder Shango, a few years ago he spoke of a group of people that survived a tsunami because they knew the imminent danger by observing nature. The elders of the community knew to get to safer ground by observing the weather. When he told the story, it sort of reminded me of Noah and how people received warning before the great flood. Some traveled to safety while some stayed and suffered the storm. There is a reason we are connected to nature, the planets, and the seasons. There is a knowing and growing in moving in sync with everything around us. There is safety in being in tune with the culture of the atmosphere.

About Carma Henry 24481 Articles
Carma Lynn Henry Westside Gazette Newspaper 545 N.W. 7th Terrace, Fort Lauderdale, Florida 33311 Office: (954) 525-1489 Fax: (954) 525-1861

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