We Brits are always moaning about our weather. We can make a moan about the weather last an entire afternoon. Sometimes we can make it last all winter, especially if there’s more than one inch of snow. Yes, if there’s more than one inch of snow the entire country grinds to a halt, especially the transport system which can’t even cope if a leaf blows on the track. Believe me, Readers, if you’re ever suffering from depression in the UK you do not want to go and visit your relatives using public transport because it will finish you off and you’ll be underneath the wheels of a high speed train before you know it. Have you ever stood around at a British train station and noticed that everyone looks like their mother’s died, they lost out on a pay rise and they just discovered they’ve got alopecia? Well if you have – it’s because the network is running two hours behind schedule due to a solitary leaf blowing on the track in an obscure station in North West Scotland. So take my sound advice – if you come to the UK to visit London take a Black Cab or failing that – walk. It’ll be a hell of a lot quicker.
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| A Black Cab. It won’t be long before the EU says we must call them Personal Carriages. |
I suppose here in the UK we have quite unpredictable weather on a daily basis. This means you never know, without checking the forecasts, whether to wear wellies and waterproofs or sandals and sun hats. Rain stops play not just at Wimbledon but at pretty much every sporting event throughout the whole year. It can be a complete drag not seeing feeling the warmth of the sun for months on end. I have bottles of sunscreen in my bathroom cabinet that are nearly ten tears old. Which is almost as old as some of the spices in my pantry. Anyway, I’m not sure if I’ve even seen sunshine this year. I have seen a lot of rain though and I mean a lot. Oh yes. Feeding my chickens in the rain is very memorable. There’s something quite odious about chicken shit isn’t there?
Anyway enough whining. (Notice how I’ve already managed two paragraph about the weather – I said we Brits can jabber on about it for yonks didn’t I?) Unlike many other regions across the world although we have erratic weather we rarely suffer from serious extremes of weather in the UK. We are very fortunate. I know that very soon Hurricane Sandy is going to hit the East Coast of the United States and it’s been on my mind for for two reasons. Firstly, by bizarre coincidence, the chief protagonist of my novel is called Sandy and I’ve been at my desk almost constantly the last few days writing her story. She’s a lot nicer than Hurricane Sandy though which is why I’ve called her Sandy Lovett. She’s a bit of a whirlwind but only in a good way. I’ve also been thinking about Hurricane Sandy as my good friend, Marie over at Nourish lives in New Jersey which will probably take a battering in the storm. Marie, who suffers from MS, is unable to leave town which is not an ideal situation.
Besides my friend, Marie, there’s also quite a few folks from the US who pop into my blog from time to time. So if you live on the East Coast of the US or indeed anywhere else suffering from extremes of weather I hope you and your families stay safe and sound and that Sandy blows herself out sooner rather than later. Fingers crossed.
And to end, here’s a silly song by the irrepressible Noel Coward which struck a chord with me. It’s got a World Weary title but somehow it’s really quite relaxing.
