Several people have told me, and by now I don’t know if it was a joke, that mentioning the weather in the opening paragraph of an article in a newspaper is almost part of the contract a journalist must sign with his paper.
Pouring rain is great for a story about a funeral or a school massacre. rainbow for things that you don’t know what to make of, a mix of bad story with rays of hope. I do remember that September 11, 2001 was one of the most beautiful days, climate wise, that I ever woke up to in New York, so it is hard for me to relate to shining sun, blue skies and bright light as a background to feel-good stories. I saw dozens of people willingly jump to their death that day.
Anyway, it makes me think that the average journalist in Germany ought to be more creative than Charlie Kaufman when he or she need to write a story between December and March. I mean how many variations can you make of icing sidewalks, grey skies and not even a hint of light. I bet that some journalists are really crossing their fingers so nothing happy will happen here during this period. I mean, forget about the aching cold and layers of clothes–this weather is a fucking writing block.
