Weather affects our mental well-being. At a basic level, if it is raining you can't get outside to do the things you might have hoped to do - like hanging out the washing, mowing the lawn or going for a walk. And if you do venture outside, you need to put on your raincoat. With rain there will invariably be grey skies that drain the colour from the world around us. Everything looks less cheery.
Last winter here in Great Britain was a mild one. Very little frost and hardly any snow but there were many grey days with a blanket of cloud - blocking out sunlight causing a kind of suffocation.
The mild winter gave way to a warm spring but it didn't really feel like that. March, April and May contained many wet days and there wasn't one sustained spell of sunny days. It was one of the wettest springs on record but also one of the warmest.
Up our garden we have a big hydrangea bush and it can act like a rainfall recorder. When there has been little rain in the spring or summer its branches and blooms will visibly sag and I know I need to get the hosepipe on it or dunk buckets of captured rainwater around its main stem. That hasn't been necessary this year. The stems and blooms haven't drooped at all thanks to all the rain.
Now we are into July and the weather forecast remains unsettled. Some days have been better than others but there is still no sign of a long period of sunny days. Grass grows vigorously and remains a vivid green. Butterflies are in short supply. Who stole our summer?
Mind you today - July 4th - has been pleasant with no rain as we approach the end of polling for the general election. Historically, such weather has always benefited The Labour Party. It brings more people out to vote - including people who do not own cars.
Having lived in tropical climates, I have always championed temperate British weather. We tend not to experience extremes and given our maritime location on the edge of Europe we never quite know what we are going to get. Normally, I rather like that variety and that uncertainty. After all, there's always next week - or next year. It keeps you on your toes - that's for sure.
I have often wished our voting was done in the summer time versus early winter. Our caucus is held in the dead of winter and at night which makes it miserable to attend.
ReplyDeleteThis election was called by the outgoing prime minister. He could have called it in the autumn or early winter.
DeleteIt's hot as hell in my neck of the woods right now. 🥵 Humid, too.
ReplyDeleteIt is God's punishment for your sins.
DeleteAnd the seasons give us variety too.
ReplyDeleteIn Thailand, for example, there are no real seasons.
DeleteI was just checking my garden, and in spite of several overnight dwnpours everything out there is as dry as a desert, especially the pots, so now I have to stand out there in a chilly wind and water the damn things!.
ReplyDelete"the damned things"? You mean your flowers and lovely plants?
DeleteThe pots, in which the soil dries out so much faster than plants in the ground.
DeleteFor Federal, State and local government elections in Australia, voting is compulsory. Technically it is getting your name marked off the list kept by voting booths, so you must attend, but you don't have to vote. People who don't vote are followed up and without a good reason, are fined. I'm just wondering what you think of this? The weather is an interesting factor in your elections and not one I'd thought about.
ReplyDeleteI think it is great that Australia obliges people to visit their polling stations.Turning one's back on democratic processes is pretty intolerable in my view.
DeleteSimilarly, our spring and early summer have been the wettest on record. The first few days of July have felt more like October or November; grey, chilly and wet. Today we're expecting 25C and wall-to-wall sunshine, but tomorrow new rain is already forecast. So, no sustained spell of dry summer weather here, either.
ReplyDeleteIt is certainly a good year for hydrangeas!
My sister and I will be in Ripon for a fortnight from July 22 onwards. We don't mind some rain, but it would be nice to have the odd dry (sunny) day to enjoy our favourite walk to Fountains Abbey, have coffee/tea on the bench in front of the cottage and so on.
I have prayed to The Almighty and he has promised to wave his/her magic wand over Ripon at the end of July.
DeleteI have been catching up on my blog reading and have just read your last three posts. Congrats on the huge Labour victory! I will read all about it this morning in the New York Times. Your post from 2019 reminds me of the malaise I feel with all of the Trump supporters which for the life of me I simply cannot understand.
ReplyDeleteThrough blogging, I am pleased to have encountered a big group of fair-minded and thoughtful American citizens who are pro-commonsense and anti-Trump. It is pretty reassuring.
DeleteThe sad thing about our electoral system is that the "winner" can have less votes than the other candidate. That's why Thing 45 (I got it right this time) "won" in 2016. The election is going to boil down to a few swing states. Virginia since 2008 has voted Democratic.
DeleteCongratulations on your election results!
ReplyDeleteIt's been incredibly dry and hot here so far this summer. We need rain in the worst way.
It is very rare for anybody in Great Britain to say, "I wish we had air conditioning!" Normally, we never need it.
DeleteIt rained here last night. Congratulations on the sensible election.
ReplyDeleteIt has certainly seemed more calm and civilised than the shenanigans surrounding the forthcoming US presidential election.
DeleteWas so glad to see that Labour pulled it off. Now if they could just do something about your weather...
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, our new prime minister is not Jesus of Nazareth.
DeleteIt didn't rain on Labours victory parade today YP.
ReplyDeleteWe have got God on our side Dave. Didn't Bob Dylan write such a song?
DeleteI bet you are glad with your election results. Hoping for some good changes that you like, Neil.
ReplyDeleteStay cool!