Rest in Peace, Jim

Growing up in Northeastern Oklahoma, I could not help, like any other child of mild competence, but to idolize the weathermen. The Wild Weather show, the rock star greeting these fifty to eighty year old men get at elementary and middle schools around the region, and the smart suits they wear and the confidence with which they accurately predict the weather (and tell you when to get into a basement for an incoming tornado)... I just couldn't help but want to be a meteorologist.
A lot of kids talk about wanting to be firemen or police men... I wanted to be a weather man. I'm a nerd. I know. I got over it a long time ago.
I gave up my dream of meteorology sometime in high school when I realized that I just plain did not like Chemistry or Physics which... let's face it, those are pretty much the basics of meteorology. Also, going to Kansas for meteorology would be like going to Oklahoma for anything but meteorology... it would just be a waste. But I always still idolized the weathermen, especially the man... the legend: Jim Giles.

I actually met Jim Giles in elementary when I was in fourth grade, and had the same reaction most kids get when meeting Barney or Big Bird. It remains as one of the best memories of my young life when this nice old man showed us how he did the weather every evening; the green screen, and the televisions on the side of the screen so he could see where he was pointing on the map (if he looked back, all he would see would be the empty screen). Know why the movie Twister was so lame? They didn't have Jim Giles in it. They had some other Tulsa meteorologist who will remain nameless.

This morning I got the news that Jim Giles passed away. Very sad day indeed. It's the end of an era when one of your childhood heroes dies. The reaction in OK here seems to be on par to Diana's death, as my dad is describing it. Sounds pretty accurate.

At least I will still look up at the skies every now and then and dream of being a meteorologist. At least I'll still have noaa.gov and The Weather Channel.