Many of my neighbors in the early sixties, Athabaskans, Eskimos, told time that way; "See those clouds? Goose season!" , "No snow left of the side of Mount Biggun, time to move to fish camp, salmon will be running soon."
Also I found the weather saws from the lower forty eight, if I just moved them a month, still worked. April, not March, comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb. May showers bring June flowers.
I suspect if when we inhabit any other rotating planets we'll still be working the old world weather saws into the new; "Red sky at night, the rail runner's delight. Red sky in the morning the runners take warning."
My parents' generation (Dad born 1928, Mom 1931) knew how important all of this was. Another sign of what time of year it was, according to them, was what sort of illnesses began to pass around. Some sicknesses only showed up when summer was 'here' and others were restricted to winter.
It could get disturbing listening to them reminisce about their childhood, simply because of all the times they remembered "So-and-so who I went to school/played games with, but then they got the measles or whooping cough or polio and died."
Seasons and weather are very important for stories set in less modern times. I include, often indirectly, the effect of seasons on the activities within my fantasy stories.
When critiquing the works of others I have noticed some authors miss that detail, making their story timeline indeterminate. I pointed it out to one author who did this. She then corrected it and found that it made it much easier for her to show the passage of time - as well as making her story more realistic.
Yep, yep and a lot of yeps.
Many of my neighbors in the early sixties, Athabaskans, Eskimos, told time that way; "See those clouds? Goose season!" , "No snow left of the side of Mount Biggun, time to move to fish camp, salmon will be running soon."
Also I found the weather saws from the lower forty eight, if I just moved them a month, still worked. April, not March, comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb. May showers bring June flowers.
I suspect if when we inhabit any other rotating planets we'll still be working the old world weather saws into the new; "Red sky at night, the rail runner's delight. Red sky in the morning the runners take warning."
Of course in Alaska, the shorter growing season would make it all the more crucial to time when it's safe to plant any crops.
My parents' generation (Dad born 1928, Mom 1931) knew how important all of this was. Another sign of what time of year it was, according to them, was what sort of illnesses began to pass around. Some sicknesses only showed up when summer was 'here' and others were restricted to winter.
Ooofff! Yes, that would be very important!
It could get disturbing listening to them reminisce about their childhood, simply because of all the times they remembered "So-and-so who I went to school/played games with, but then they got the measles or whooping cough or polio and died."
The whole downside of history
https://writingandreflections.substack.com/p/the-downside-of-history
It's frightening how close it can be.
Seasons and weather are very important for stories set in less modern times. I include, often indirectly, the effect of seasons on the activities within my fantasy stories.
When critiquing the works of others I have noticed some authors miss that detail, making their story timeline indeterminate. I pointed it out to one author who did this. She then corrected it and found that it made it much easier for her to show the passage of time - as well as making her story more realistic.
The sad part is that you can't use them to indicate time to the readers because many readers won't get them.