In article , Bill
Brewer writes

"Malcolm" wrote in a message:

In article Bill Brewer writes,

"If the ash before the oak, we're in
for a soak, if the oak before the ash, we're in for a splash". Works more
often than not in foretelling the weather for the coming summer.
-----------------------
Malcolm, check the saying out for a few years and you might be surprised to
find that it has some validity. I did say that it, "works more often than
not". Don't ask me why.

Coincidence. No more and no less!

With regard to humans suffering rheumatism, " from an early age". Many young
people DO. I have had much experience of school children having the often
crippling disease.

That's very sad.

I had charge of 40 Guernsey cows and 2 bulls that would always sit down in
the fields before the onset of rain, it happened more often than not to be
sheer coincidence. As you no doubt know, rheumatism is a disease of the
joints brought on by wear, an accident or some other unrelated disease.

Among other things, including heredity.

Overweight people are prone to rheumatics as are overweight cows. The
highest milk yield is the first milking of the day making the average cow a
heavy beast. The added weight of a full udder only adds to the animal's
discomfort and stress on the joints. Of course cows will sit down during the
day, but not all at the same time. Cows "cat nap" more often in the
afternoon than the morning as they don't sleep right through the night as we
humans do.

Hey, isn't this supposed to be a gardening newsgroup?

Yep, indeed. And I'm a scientist who automatically questions sayings
such as yours and needs to see proof of them. In the case of the cows,
it is, at best, anecdotal and might be worth looking into more
scientifically.

--
Malcolm