"Middle-aged women are the people most likely to watch the Weather Channel," my husband read to me from the newspaper. "Isn’t that strange?"
"Not really," I said sheepishly, as if confessing some secret desire. "I think The Weather Channel is interesting."
"Why?", my husband asked, mystified. "You can check the weather you need to know on the internet in a matter of minutes. Why watch it as entertainment?"
After prolonged musing, I think understand why the demographic of The Weather Channel might be women of a certain age. We feel intimately connected to weather. The only thing that is changing as much as we are moment-to-moment IS the weather.
Some of the changes (in weather and in us) are dramatic upheavals – tornados, hurricanes, and the like, turning everything upside down. Other changes occur over time – prolonged heat and drought desiccates and desertifies the land. We can relate to this all too well, as hot flashes singe our individual landscapes and lack of hormonal rainfall leaves us hot, parched, and dry.
Watching the weather is comforting and reassuring for this menopausal woman. While these climactic changes are sometimes uncomfortable and hard to bear, they are NORMAL. The Earth recovers from weather’s onslaughts and new growth appears. A landscape may be trashed for a time, but it ultimately rejuvenates. It may never be as it was before, but it will be fine. And so will we.
Is it my imagination, or does all this peri/meno thing feel worse in hot weather? I worry whether this is just 'me' for a long time to come, or whether the weather [no pun intended:) ] does make us flash more.
Ha, I had to laugh about the statment your husband made. I have links to weather maps on my PC toolbar. My husband thinks I am so knowledgeable about the weather!!!
Great Blog!
Nastasia
It is not your imagination – hot weather does seem to make the flashes worse. I live in the tropics, which is crazy-making for menopausal women. One of the euphemisms for hot flashes is "Short personal vacations in the tropics". No thanks – already there, I think. I want a short personal vacation in Antarctica. Thankfully, I can say that it does get better over time. I generally only sweat like a pig once a day now (instead of 20 times.)
Glad you like the blog – thanks for sharing.