It was Autumn, and the Maori of a remote whanau
asked their chief if the winter was going to be cold or mild.
Since he was a Maori chief in a modern society he had never been taught
the old secrets; so, when he looked at the sky he couldn't tell what
the weather was going to be. Nevertheless to be on the safe side, he
counselled that the winter was indeed going to be cold and that the
members of the whanau should collect wood and be prepared. So they did.
But, being a practical leader, he got on his cell phone to the Met.
Office.
" Is the coming winter going to be cold ?" asked the chief.
"It looks that way" the meteorologist responded.
So the chief went back to his people and told them to collect even more
wood to be prepared. A week later he called the Met. Office service
again.
"Is it going to be a very cold winter?" he asked.
"Yes," the man at the Met Service replied. "It's going
to be a very cold winter."
Again the chief returned to his people and ordered them to collect all
the firewood they could find. Two weeks later he called the Met Service
again.
"Are you absolutely sure that the winter is going to be very cold
?"
"Absolutely," the Met man replied. "It's going to be
one of the coldest winters ever."
"How can you be so sure ?" the chief asked.
The weatherman replied, "Well, the Maori are on the hills collecting
firewood like there's no tomorrow !!!!"
