英语博客：Red sky at night.

　　As I walked outside yesterday to throw the garbage in the dumpster, the evening sky caught my eye. There was a spread of small clouds that were lit up by the sun, beautiful and pink. An English saying came to mind:
Red sky at night, shepherd's delight; Red sky in the morning, shepherd's warning.
I remember hearing that saying when I was a child. At that time, I lived in a rural area where there was a lot of farm land. It was important to know when to plant seeds, and how the weather would affect the work on the farm. Who knows if this saying is accurate? Scientifically speaking, it is an indication that the low sun is lighting¹ up clouds that are heavy with moisture. By the time the night has come and gone, it will either have rained, or the clouds will have gone. If the clouds are pink in the morning, the moisture will be around for the rest of the day, meaning that rain is on its way. That makes sense. The saying is one of many that we find in what is called 'weather lore²', lore is a word that we don't often use which means 'old sayings' or 'old stories'. There must be some truth to some of them. They developed through the experience of people who have observed weather patterns over time, like fishermen and farmers. Another saying I like is:
When windows won't open, and the salt clogs³ the shaker;The weather will favour (favor) the umbrella maker⁵.
Salt, as you know, absorbs water from the air. So, when there is high humidity, the salt will expand and not pour easily from the salt shaker. Also, the wood of doors and windows will expand because of moisture in the air. It's reasonable that generations of people tried to figure out what the weather would do, as a way of preserving their livelihoods⁶. We're luckier nowadays, with weather satelites and weather stations, that can warn an inform us of important changes in the weather. We can even, ahead of time, evacuate⁷ areas that will be hit by hurricanes. And think what that saves! Weather lore has its uses, but science and technology now lead the way.
Grammar notes.
Related vocabulary: to clog⁴, ...speaking, to make sense, to figure out.
1. Leaves have clogged⁸ the drain, so there is water everywhere.
2. Financially speaking, he is wealthy; however, emotionally speaking, he is poor.
3. That newspaper article didn't make sense. The argument was very weak.
4. I tried to figure out the instructions to put the shelves together, but they were not clear at all.

1 lighting   

n.照明，光线的明暗，舞台灯光

参考例句：

• The gas lamp gradually lost ground to electric lighting.煤气灯逐渐为电灯所代替。
• The lighting in that restaurant is soft and romantic.那个餐馆照明柔和而且浪漫。

2 lore   

n.传说；学问，经验，知识

参考例句：

• I will seek and question him of his lore.我倒要找上他，向他讨教他的渊博的学问。
• Early peoples passed on plant and animal lore through legend.早期人类通过传说传递有关植物和动物的知识。

3 clogs   

木屐； 木底鞋，木屐( clog的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Clogs are part of the Netherlands national costume. 木屐是荷兰民族服装的一部分。
• Clogs are part of the Dutch traditional costume. 木屐是荷兰传统装束的一部分。

4 clog   

vt.塞满，阻塞；n.[常pl.]木屐

参考例句：

• In cotton and wool processing,short length fibers may clog sewers.在棉毛生产中，短纤维可能堵塞下水管道。
• These streets often clog during the rush hour.这几条大街在交通高峰时间常常发生交通堵塞。

5 maker   

n.制造者，制造商

参考例句：

• He is a trouble maker，You must be distant with him.他是个捣蛋鬼，你不要跟他在一起。
• A cabinet maker must be a master craftsman.家具木工必须是技艺高超的手艺人。

6 livelihoods   

生计，谋生之道( livelihood的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• First came the earliest individualistic pioneers who depended on hunting and fishing for their livelihoods. 走在最前面的是早期的个人主义先驱者，他们靠狩猎捕鱼为生。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件
• With little influence over policies, their traditional livelihoods are threatened. 因为马赛族人对政策的影响力太小，他们的传统生计受到了威胁。

7 evacuate   

v.遣送；搬空；抽出；排泄；大(小)便

参考例句：

• We must evacuate those soldiers at once!我们必须立即撤出这些士兵！
• They were planning to evacuate the seventy American officials still in the country.他们正计划转移仍滞留在该国的70名美国官员。

8 clogged   

（使）阻碍( clog的过去式和过去分词 )； 淤滞

参考例句：

• The narrow streets were clogged with traffic. 狭窄的街道上交通堵塞。
• The intake of gasoline was stopped by a clogged fuel line. 汽油的注入由于管道阻塞而停止了。