Weather

 

In 2003 30,000 people died from heat-related causes in Europe. At my office we turned off the lights, they brought water bottles around to keep us from dehydrating and we were sent home at 15:00 in the afternoon.

Anyone who knows me, knows that I hate heat because it saps my energy.

My daughter did a hissy fit until I bought an air conditioner for my nest, and each time the temperature gets above 22°C (see the conversion temperature on the right) I email her and thank her.

I love winter with its sweaters, gloves and sweat shirts. I love it Dec, Jan, Feb that is.

But even more than winter I love seasons: the daffodils and flowering of the trees, the rape seed making the fields almost sunglasses necessary, sitting in an outdoor café with a cup of green tea, kicking waves in the sea, the slowly darkening days, the first fire in the fireplace, kicking fallen leaves with their musty smell, finding the decorations for the Christmas tree. 

This alleged spring we've had the daffodils. Tulips lined the lakefront on the route into the city. However what we haven't had is spring temperatures. Maybe they got drowned in all the rain.

The summer clothes I rehung in the closet go unused in favour of the couple of winter outfits I kept out "in case" and it has only been "in case."

As we end May we are expecting a high of 11°C today with mostly rain adding to the already soggy soil from all the other rainy days. The weekend forecast is not much better. 

Llara and I are going to an open mike poetry reading tonight and J and I have a Garou concert tomorrow night. We'll bundle up and take umbrellas.

When I used to go to Florida to visit my dad in winter, he would say, "Shut the door as you close the door when you cross the Mason-Dixon line. We don't want any of that cold weather here." 

If any of my friends are coming from the Sahara, would you please leave the door open...at least a little.