{The Weatherman}[20th December 1987]

[Redbook4:245-246][19871220:0000c]{The Weatherman}[20th December 1987]

(19)

19871220.

[continued]

I do not believe that Men can control the weather by deliberate action (except marginally, e.g. by cloud seeding). On the other hand, it seems obvious that the weather can heavily influence Men. It may not be quite so obvious a process as it seems.

Several times in these Journals I have noted weather manifestations that seemed particularly appropriate to the Human events with which they coincided. By “co-incidence” [sic], I do not now imply either a causal relationship or a lack of causal relationship. Examples are the gales during the writing of [1];* the thunderstorm on the night before [S]'s wedding;** and the weather before and after last Christmas in [I, in Scotland].*** These things exist with us, in a mutual relationship of meaning which may, or may not, mutually affect matter.

It is a sad but satisfying**** sequel to my problem with my parents over the flat that after I had written my terminating reply to their Solicitors, typed and dated 15/10/87 (posted 16/10/87), on the night of 15-16/10/87 the worst storm for many decades changed course unexpectedly in the Channel and passed right over [the woodlands at C],# leaving in the best of the timber there (I am told) only one in twenty trees standing#*: this seems to be worse than the other cases I have heard of. The damage in loss of timber must, I guess, run to tens of thousands of pounds.

------

The gales, I am glad to say, missed us completely – here in [CH], the windy pass.

*[[Redbook2:259][19821106:2200]{[1]}[6^th November 1982]ff, especially 

[Redbook2:261][19821107:2300]{[1] Weather}[7^th November 1982]ff & 

[Redbook2:262][19821111:2145]{[1] Weather [continued(5)]}[11^th November 1982], & 

[Redbook2:263][19821112:2130]{[1] Voices}[12^th November 1982]ff]

**[No reference found; but the wedding was the culmination of many months of arguments.]]

***[There do not appear to be any journal entries around this time, but there was very cold weather with snow and ice around [I] that winter, not altogether surprisingly.]

****[Sic. In a strictly literary sense, presumably. At least 22 people were reported killed in England and France as a result of the storm. <20170624>]

#cf. II.[[Redbook2:365[19850707:1233b]{A Dream: of a Tornado}[7^th July 1985]]365 <871223-4>

II.[[Redbook2:198-199][19810908:1800]{A Dream of Bicycles and a Collapsing Tower}[8^th September 1981]]199 <880325>

[& there is a curious reference in an early writing by JRR Tolkein, written long before 1987 but pretending to be journals written before that year discovered after it, to (if I recall correctly) the Great Storm of 1987.]

#*[The larches in particular on top of the hill were long overdue for thinning.]

[Inserted in the ms at this point on <951030> is a clipping from the Guardian of 911021 at p31, “Weatherwatch: Storm in a capital teacup”, discussing recent and fairly typical gales, and continuing as follows: “The 1987 storm was a completely different animal. It was a remarkable short-lived but very intense storm, it came and went within nine hours, and the strongest wind blew to the south. There was, of course, no doubt about the exceptional nature of the devastation in the south – probably the worst since 1703 – but the are affected amounted to little more than 10 per cent of the surface area of the UK.” ]

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