It was the day after the Great and Terrible Flood had occurred in the Hundred Acre Wood, the day after the Daring Rescue of Piglet by Christopher Robin and Winnie-the Pooh in the good ship The Brain of Pooh fashioned out of Christopher Robin’s large umbrella. That day has been the last of several days of Unfavourable Atmospheric Conditions, and now it was quite the opposite. The sun was shining and a gentle breeze was blowing, and whilst things were still quite damp, the whole of the Hundred Acre Wood seemed to be drying itself off rather vigorously as if it had just had a bath and was rushing to prepare for evening cocoa.
Pooh had just finished taking stock of his remaining jars of honey and guessing how long they would last before he needed to get some more and whether the bees where still making honey or if they had decided that honey was less important then learning how to swim in preparation for the next big flood, when he noticed what a beautiful day it was outside. This troubled Pooh, although he wasn’t sure why.
“Today is a Day for Pondering Things,” He mumbled to himself. And then he realised why this bothered him so much, as yesterday was a Day for Dramatic Rescues and Staying Indoors Afterwards, and yet Today was a Day for Pondering Things and Taking a Pleasant Walk. Not that there was anything wrong with those two types of Days, but they shouldn’t follow each other; as it just so happens, there should be a grace period in between so that a person may prepare for one Day or the Other, whichever may be coming next.
“Still,” thought Pooh, “If it IS a Day for Pondering Things and Taking A Pleasant Walk, then I had better not waste it.”
And so, gathering up a small pot of honey in case his Ponderings resulted in him needing a little mouthful of something, Pooh headed out into the sunshine towards the place where his dear friend Christopher Robin lived.
As he went upon his way, he tried to sing a little song in order to allow Ponderings to find him, but he found it difficult as his Very Little Brain was still set for Dramatic Rescues and such like.
After a time he came upon the place where Christopher Robin lived. As luck would have it, Christopher Robin had company in the form of Owl. This was very fortunate, as Owl was wise and clever (though not as clever as Christopher Robin) and could even spell TUESDAY. If one knew the secrets of spelling the different days, then surely it is a simple matter of knowing how one type of Day could become a Different type of Day without any warning.
“Hallo Christopher Robin. Hallo Owl.” Pooh said.
“Hallo Pooh Bear.” Christopher Robin replied.
“Greetings young bear” Owl answered.
“What brings you out here Pooh?” Asked Christopher Robin
“It seemed to me that today was a Day for Pondering Things and Taking A Pleasant Walk, and so I was doing just that.”
“And was your walk very pleasant?”
“It was, what with the sky being that particular shade of Blue and the ground being that particular shade of green.”
“Well, that’s good.”
Christopher Robin turned back to Owl and returned to that which they were speaking before hand and although Pooh had more to say, he didn’t like to interrupt, especially when they were using long words like “cly-mate” and “glow-ball wawneng” and such words that Pooh did not understand at all, so he instead returned to his previous attempts at trying to conjure up a Song with which to entice Ponderings to come, but alas his brain was still very much wrapped up on the last few days and his efforts were very much for nought.
“Something wrong Pooh-bear?” Christopher Robin asked, noting the look of concentration on his friend’s countenance.
“No, nothing wrong as such Christopher Robin. Its just that I have been trying to Ponder things and yet find myself unable to Ponder these things that I should be Pondering on a Day to Ponder things, and its bothering me.”
“Well, that is a problem.” Christopher Robin agreed.
“I think that even a Bear With Very Little Brain, such as myself, should be able to Ponder things on a Day to Ponder Things, and yet I am unable to do so.”
“Perhaps you have exhausted yourself beyond your limits as with regard to the high amounts of excitement that did occur with the recent dramatic increase in local hydro-activity,” Owl ventured. Pooh was forced to admit that he did not know what this meant.
“He said that he thinks you might be tired after the excitement of the flood,” Christopher Robin translated.
“Ah,” Said Pooh. “No” Pooh said. “Maybe.” Pooh was sure he wasn’t tired, but perhaps this “hi-dro acktivitee” had changed how he should feel things.
“It seems to me that Days like today shouldn’t follow Days like yesterday without some sort of breather in between.”
“Ah” Said Christopher Robin in a manner that suggested he knew what was wrong. “You’re bothered by Climate Change.”
Both “Cly-mate” and on occasion “Change” were words Pooh tried to avoid if possible, but they seemed to be linked to the lack of his Ponderings, and so he asked Christopher Robin to explain.
“Well, Climate Change is caused by Global Warming, which means the Earth is hotter then it should be. Or so I'm told.”
“It doesn’t feel any hotter.” Pooh said.
“It’s very little changes.” Christopher Robin explained. “And it causes the weather to go a bit funny.”
Pooh sat and thought about this a while, but could only come down to the conclusion that perhaps the rain should go away and come again some other day. Or perhaps, on further inspection, that they should move somewhere where the weather wasn’t funny, and preferred to be more sedate and sensible about its dealings with ordinary folk. He explained this to Christopher Robin whilst Owl listened, ready to drop a morsel of information or a titbit of factual knowledge should the need arise. When Pooh had finished, Christopher Robin shook his head.
“Climate Change will affect us all Pooh! If it continues, we could have rain in the summer and sun in the winter and snow when its time for rain! The weather could change from one day to the other without warning!”
Pooh pondered this new bit of information, as it was, after all, A Day for Pondering Things and he felt sufficiently into the Day to start using it as it should be used.
“Without Warning?” He asked again, to be sure.
“Without Warning” Christopher Robin nodded.
“Hmm…That would make it very difficult to plan picnics.”
“Amongst other things” Owl nodded sagely.
“So what can we do to stop the Earth from heating up?”
“Well… little things. Like not leaving a fire going when we don’t need one. Or recycling our waste. Or so I'm told.”
Pooh nodded in a slow confirming manner, unsure if he knew what recycling was, and if it was anything like normal cycling, then he would have to avoid it as his legs were too short to reach the pedals and he would often fall off.
“Thank You Christopher Robin. Owl. I see this is something that will require further pondering.” He turned to leave.
“Are you going to be ok Pooh?” Christopher Robin asked.
“As long as I know that the weather could change Without Warning, I can be better prepared for it. And if I'm better prepared for it, then it wont bother me as much.”
“And how are you going to get better prepared for it Pooh?”
“I think the first step should be to get myself a sturdy Umbrella.”
“A wise decision Pooh.” Owl nodded with respect as Pooh headed back into the woods, his one pot of honey under his arm. “A very wise decision indeed.”
Pooh did not hear this compliment as he had already begun the composition of a Song with which to invite Ponderings on a Day that Appeared to be a Day to Ponder Things and Take a Pleasant Walk, but might very well turn out to be Any Other Kind of Day. And those were the best kind of Days really.

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END

dont judge me.