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.
from Yorkshire Pudding https://ift.tt/t1kjPSC