It’s funny how an expression will come into your head and take up residence there, uninvited.

Words.

They are sometimes magical, having a life of their own. Although they are tools created by humans to depict a specific thing, or to convey a definite idea, they sometimes embrace an alter ego. Then they wander around from place to place with their new identity until they find a mind with its defenses down, and . . . BAM!

They move in.

There is no tenant warrant to be served for words that reside in your head; they are permanent squatters in every sense of the word. The best you can do is accept their presence. Perhaps befriend them (if that’s possible).

Today I have been invaded by the homophones “weather” and “whether.” And my deranged mind has combined the one that relates to climate (weather) with the phrase that refers to a single alternative (whether or not). The result is the seemingly nonsensical expression “weather or not.”

Arrrgghh! It cries out to me to make it the subject of my blog, today. It says, “Write about me . . . if you can!”

All right. The gauntlet has been thrown down. I will accept the challenge.

There are snow flurries in the forecast tomorrow and colder temps. Not like the near-zero temps of last week, but still cold enough. And so, in our part of the world people will begin employing the phrase, “we’re having some weather.” This is an interesting phrase to me. Is there an alternative to having weather?

If there are days when we have weather, then there must be days when we do not have weather. There would be no clear blue sky in a weatherless day (I would wager); no puffy white clouds; no scorching heat, suffocating humidity, freezing cold, or snowy landscape. In fact, nothing meteorologically outstanding could exist in a weatherless day, because if it did . . . we would not call it a weatherless day, now would we?  We would be having weather, not not having weather.

My guess is that days without having weather would be quite boring.

Can you imagine waking up, looking out the window each day to see whether or not there was weather, or not? On weatherless days you wouldn’t even notice the air when you went outdoors; there would be nothing remarkable about it. No intriguing smells, no visually stimulating vistas, no breathtaking sunsets.

No weather. Boring.

On the days when you looked outside and saw you had weather you would be so excited! No blandness today, you’d think. This day has . . . possibilities. And the brightness of the sunlight, coo of the morning dove, and fragrance of the air would almost knock you down. Talk about joyful celebration. And none of it contingent upon you or your performance; it would be a precious gift boding good things ahead of you.

My daughter has a big job related decision to make today. Very difficult. Whether to take a new job offer, or not. I have some big job decisions I might make this week, too. Leaving some security and comfortable joy for . . . the unknown.

Choice is sometimes very hard for us, isn’t it?

Sometimes choice is so hard for us we wish we had no choice! We wish we were trapped, confined, limited, bound, restricted, enslaved. What?

No, we don’t!

We might dread choosing, but we certainly do not desire the absence of choice in our lives. Not in our heart of hearts. Men fight battles for this freedom of choice all over the world, and have done so for millennia.

Choice is part and parcel of each day of our lives. If we did away with it (somehow) we would enter each day like automatrons, blandly going through the motions of each colorless, odorless, meaningless day. Boring.

But that is not our plight, is it? No. It is not.

We will have weather, today. I guarantee it! And that’s a good thing.

Whether or not you like warm sunshine, arctic blasts, blue skies or overcast skies, there will be weather, today. And there will be choices to make, too. Whether or not you think you like to make choices.

By the way, my daughter already made her decision this morning; her choice is decided. And I think she has made a good one. Without doubt she will be able to weather the consequences of her choice.

And now, you and I have a choice today, too. In fact, many of them.

We don’t get to decide whether or not to have weather, because we will, indeed have weather. But we do get to choose how we value the day. We get to decide whether or not the weather will excite us, inspire us, enliven us. We dare not take it for granted.

Weather, like our lives, is made up of balmy afternoons that change into raging blizzards that change into seaside calmness that change into stormy downpours.

There is a cool breeze today, and bright sunny skies. Absolutely lovely.

This day definitely has possibilities. I will take in the day, breathe in the fragrances, embrace the coolness of the air mixed with the warmth of the sun. It is all an omen boding good things to come. This day is anything but boring.

Days with weather never are.

So, we are, indeed, having weather. Whether you like it or not.

There! My mind is again free from demon of word-possession. At least until the next one comes along. Whew! Thanks for indulging me.