With all of the unusual weather we are having, including all the hail, I thought a weather joke was appropriate.   There was a newly appointed young Medicine Man of an Indian tribe who was very well university educated, but naive to some of the traditional ways of his people on the reservation.    He was asked to make the annual prediction for the tribe regarding the coming winter    He went to the older (retired) medicine man for advice, and was told “Predict a severe winter.  You can’t go wrong.”   Have them gather wood, store grains, tan hides to prepare.  If the winter is in fact severe, the tribe will be ready.  If the winter is mild, well at least the tribe will have those extra supplies to use.”   So the young medicine man stood before the tribe and announced “the coming winter will harsh and severe. Gather wood, store grain, and tan hides.” And the tribe set to work.   A month into an early fall, he was asked to do an update to his weather prediction, and he repeated “the coming winter will be severe”…and the tribe dutifully set about to collect even more firewood, store even more grain, and tan even more hides.   Now late October, he was asked to make one last prediction.  He was a little anxious over his rather arbitrary predictions, so he called the national weather service to seek more scientific advice.   He asked the national weatherman “What do you predict for this winter? The Scientist answered “winter is going to be very severe.”   The Young medicine man asked “How do you know this?”  “Scientific stuff?” The national weather man answered:  “We pay attention to the Indians mostly, and they have been cutting firewood, storing grain and tanning hides like crazy!”