A little more than a decade ago, we noticed a phenomenon in our visits to nursing homes and retirement centers. Many of those facilities had televisions that were turned on all day long. I suppose it was an attempt to keep residents entertained. We would visit facilities and in home after home the common area boasted a large television. In many of the facilities the sound was turned up quite high, possible due to the fact that some residents had experienced hearing loss. At the time we also noted that one of the most common channels for the televisions in those places was the weather channel.

Around the same time we also noted that there were television sets showing broadcasts in a lot of waiting areas. We noticed them in airports and medical offices. There was a large set in the lobby of an accounting firm. Even our pharmacy had a television set for those who were waiting for prescriptions to be filled.

We’re not big fans of television. We don’t own a television, though we are able to watch some television programs on our computer. We are not opposed to television. We simply enjoy doing other activities. There are so many books that we want to read and so many things we enjoy exploring on the Internet that television is not among our priorities when we have time.

The ubiquitous presence of television sets began to bother me. When I noticed that no one was watching a television set, I would look for a remote control to turn down the volume. Turning off the volume made it easier to ignore the set, and it made conversation a lot easier.

Along the way, I began to notice that those who were watching the weather channel nonstop were a lot more anxious than those who were not. The weather channel sees extreme weather and disaster as news and plays far more stories of storms and tragedies than of people enjoying the outdoors. The aging people in the nursing homes sometimes struggled to discern the difference between the weather outside their windows and the storms they were watching on television. The approach of a storm somewhere far away caused anxiety even though there was no threat to the area where the home was located.

These days the use of televisions in waiting rooms has decreased. People are instead focusing their attention on their smartphones as they wait. Some medical waiting rooms have removed their televisions and I notice more and more places where the televisions are turned off.

Nursing homes and care centers, however, seem to still have the televisions playing all day long and they seem to continue to show the weather channel.

Meanwhile, I carry in my pocket my own device that constantly warns me of storms and weather disasters. My cell phone has multiple weather applications and I consult it regularly to determine what time of day to go for a walk or which jacket to grab from the closet before heading outdoors.

Like the residents of a nursing home, I find myself bombarded with stories of weather dangers and disasters. Currently, my weather applications are warning of yet another atmospheric river bearing down on our part of the country. I had never heard of atmospheric rivers until a couple of years ago. Now it seems that they are regular phenomena. My weather applications say that this is an “extreme” atmospheric river, barreling into the Pacific Northwest. We went for a walk yesterday afternoon and although I was wearing my rain coat, I didn’t notice any extreme weather outdoors. The rain was light and the hood on the jacket was protecting my glasses from water spots. It was rather pleasant to stroll around our neighborhood. We walked down to the beach where the seas were calm, the skies gray, and the clouds low.

There was a flood watch in effect for more than five million people in Washington and Oregon. I guess we are among the five million, but we are in no danger. We don’t live close to a river and the nearest flowing water, Terrell Creek, is no threat to our home or the roads we drive to get to our son’s farm. The Nooksack River, which we cross a couple of times on our drive to the church is running fairly full, but nothing like the flooding we saw in the early winter. Our weather applications say that a parade of storms will keep the weather active across our region for at least a couple more days. I guess it is good to give people notice that flooding is possible, but I confess that I’m prone to ignoring the constant flood warning and watches that are a part of weather forecasts around here.

My experience with canoes and kayaks has taught me that I appear to be fairly waterproof. I seem to be able to take immersion without ill effect. I have good rain gear and don’t let a little rain keep me inside. We did pay attention to flood maps and insurance ratings when we were shopping for a house. We avoided houses that were in the flood planes and didn’t consider those that required special flood insurance. We enjoyed our house on the hill in South Dakota and looked for another home that was up a bit from the water. Although we don’t live in hilly country, our home has the lowest flood risk rating of the houses in this region.

Although we have a good view of the mountains on clear days, we are a long way from the areas that are affected by the avalanche warning that is in effect for the mountains.

Although the television and weather applications on our phones are prone to warn of disaster, no disaster seems imminent and the atmospheric river bearing down on us seems more like a couple of days of rainy weather than some kind of emergency. Maybe I’ve become immune to the warnings.

So, if you love to watch the weather channel and if you have noticed that our region is at the center of the forecast of yet another atmospheric river, remember that the Pacific Northwest is a temperate rainforest. Rain is common in our region. And, for the most part, we seem to be waterproof. We’ll reach out to help neighbors whose basements are flooding, but life under an atmospheric river isn’t that uncomfortable. We’ll be going for a walk again today and I’m not dreading the trip out the door.