Why is it "Mother Nature" and "Father Time"? When a "natural" tragedy strikes why is it feminized?

Doesn't Cajon mean "box" or "drawer"?  Cajon Pass was named because it looked like a box (as in "box canyon").  I believe the word "cajon" is considered a masculine noun in Spanish.

Remember, most of California belonged to Mexico LONG before the US came along.  Many places (especially in SoCal) still have Spanish names.  (San Diego = Saint Diego). Just like in Zorro (with Guy Williams).

Now I ASSUME they're referred to in the feminine because men (of old) saw women as sometimes being moody and irritable, while at other times they were sweet and loving (possibly due to their menstrual cycle).  It's possible that natural disasters were seen in the same way.  One moment nice and calm the next a turbulent disaster.   We may think of ourselves as "modern", but a lot of the language and phrases we use have their roots in the past.  (You don't even want to know tehorigions of many of our nursery rhymes).

It's the female who bears and cares for the young - new life which matures to do it again.  In nature we see animals being born, seeds sprouting from the soil each year, trees bearing fruit... therefore we call it, "Mother Nature" (notice that she's NEVER pictured as being old).  Men, on the other hand, just sit around and "do their thing".  Thus father time (old).



Uh=oh... you're getting fires now too?  I hope it isn't someone out setting them (we had that here).

Don't they alternate the "sex" of hurricanes? Or are these storms all female-named?

Oddly enough, ships can be named for a man, but they still call them she.

The next hurricane is called Larry.