babbling blue

Well they say if you don’t like the weather here in the midwest, wait 5 minutes (or is it an hour?). But I think it’s just as accurate to say if you don’t like the weather forecast, wait 5 minutes. A few days ago the forecast called for storms yesterday and today. But by Wednesday that changed, and Thursday was predicted to be clear and warm. And it was. Yesterday they were still calling for rain today (Friday). I’m looking out my window at a perfectly clear sky. and the temperature this morning is warmer than the high they predicted yesterday. Of course it’s supposed to be very windy (sustained winds of 30 MPH, gusts over 40 MPH) today which wasn’t mentioned in earlier forecasts.

I believe that meteorology is more educated guessing than real scientific prediction. Since I actually leave my apartment every day now, I check forecasts regularly and they are always changing.

In other Chicago news, the color of the new ‘L’ line was announced. It’s pink!

Starting in June, the Blue Line’s 54/Cermak branch will take a new route and a new name: the Pink Line.

Yes pink, as in bubble gum, cotton candy and the favorite color of little girls across the country.

The CTA board picked pink from among the top three choices of more than 600 Chicago-area students who entered an agency contest to name the line. While the board chose pink over silver and gold, it wasn’t necessarily the favorite of people who ride the line.

“I don’t think so,” said Joseph Santoyo, 18, as he stood at the entrance of the Cermak branch’s California stop on the border of Little Village and Lawndale. “Let’s take the Pink Line? No.”

“They should rename it somewhere else,” he added, saying the neighborhood is too tough to have a Pink Line running through it. “I don’t think the neighborhood will like it.”

I kind of agree. I think the Pink Line should perhaps be an express train to Boystown. But the new color is not without its supporters.

But, noted one 8th grader who nominated pink, the color isn’t just for girls any more.

“Pink is a really pretty bright color and when people hear the color pink they probably think it is a girly color,” wrote Jeanine Zarate, a student at Graham Elementary School in Chicago. “Today, a lot of people including boys like pink.”

Several other pink supporters said the color could help raise awareness of breast cancer, which has long been symbolized by pink.

Uhhh. . . yeah. Sure.

Anyway, I don’t really care what color it is.

Happy Friday!