what is the weather like there?

In my family, we talk about the weather.  Thankfully we talk about others things too, but the weather always pops up in our conversations.  When I lived in Cairo and my parents were in the States, they would always ask me, "what is the weather like there?"  When it became easier for them to use the internet to track my weather, they could tell me my current temperature.  The weather in Cairo rarely changed and when you live in a hot place, it is best to not know how hot it really is!  I always thought this point of our conversation was sort of silly and meaningless and I tried to avoid it.  I wanted to talk about deeper things, topics that mattered, not the weather.

But then this week when my son went sailing on the west coast of Scotland, and I started charting his weather, checking the forecast, tracking the shipping news, looking at the details of the wind's direction,  I realized why my parents were always wanting to ask about the weather:  it is how we stay connected.  

It might seem silly to say that knowing what the weather is like where my child is holds a certain meaning to me, but it does.  I don't know half of the things he will experience or contemplate or see or hear or discuss, but somehow if I know the backdrop (the weather) to the stage of his life, then maybe, just maybe I will feel more connected to him and he won't seem so far away. Maybe if I know about the sunshine or rain or wind or clouds, I might understand his landscape, and then I might have a better chance of knowing him more fully. 

I am no longer embarrassed to say I sound like my parents. 

So, what is the weather like there?