Oh, the weather outside is frightful, just like the fireside inside.

We don't know from day to day what the meteorologist may have in store for us.

One day it's cold and the next day it's hot; it may rain, or it may not.

Your guess is as good as mine, despite all the up-to-date gismos they've come up with that supposedly point us in the right direction.

The pollen is fallin'; plants and shrubs are blooming all over with early blossoms.

Sweet magnolias are budding out around everybody's door and the camellias and azaleas are painting a good-looking background, enhancing the beauty of the scenery everywhere.

The camellias have matured to the point where many of them have become overripe, fallen off their

bushes and carpeted the ground around the yard.

The biggest bugbear of all this maundering, as mentioned earlier, is the pollen, particularly for those individuals who are asthmatic or fall prey to hay fever at this time of year.

The accursed lint has forced us into washing the car almost daily, as opposed to t he twice a month chore we suffer through in "normal" seasons.

We are sated at TV news hours with in-depth reports that describe weather happenings in detail, not just in our area but on an almost global basis.

I don't know about you, but my climatic interests extend no farther than those within the state of Alabama.

I've never taken any interest in what goes on in Berlin or London atmospherically. Have you? I thought not.

As far as I'm concerned the forecasts and tidal fluctuations are aptly described in the Farmer's Almanac, published annually.

The main interests I have in the TV weathercasts are the travel advisories and the warnings of imminent destruction that could result from extreme conditions.

Meanwhile, the current weather outside remains frightful.