Sitting in my favourite chair in the conservatory looking out at a grey, lifeless sky, nothing is moving. I feel as if I could be the lone survivor of an apocalypse! A bit dramatic but that’s the effect months of lockdown has had on me! Not even a bird is at the recently filled feeder. No breeze ruffles the rose bushes new leaves. The strains of Dvorak’s Serenade for Strings is having a soothing effect and is the only sound I can hear!
It’s begun to rain, but more a wet snow or sleet than the fine spring drizzle which had been forecast. This time last year we were basking in sunshine with the promise of more to come. Strange thing this weather, one year it’s glorious in April, the next its leaving a lot to be desired!
I arrived in England from a boiling hot South African summer on the 1st January 1991. My children and I landed at Heathrow in the early hours of the morning and had to find the connecting flight to Leeds to meet my husband. The airport was bitterly cold. My two children were chatting away animatedly, excited to be in England and seemingly impervious to the weather. After waiting outside in the wrong queue for at least an hour we caught the correct bus and just made the connection in time!
When we arrived in Leeds I can honestly say that, to date, I have never felt so cold. My parents in law lived in a large Victorian stone house with limited heating. I was frozen to the bone and could hardly move. Only a hot bath and an electric blanket warming the bed brought my circulation back to some kind of normality.
Throughout all my years living in my adopted country I have become very aware of weather. In South Africa there were a large number of ‘ex pats‘. I was forever questioning their obsession with the weather! It hardly changed and yet, at the start of every conversation, they passed a comment about it! During the summer it was hot and dry. In winter it was cold at night with occasional rain but usually bright sunshine during the day. The weather seldom caused any concerns other than occasional spectacular storms, periodic droughts or floods. These were the exception rather than the rule! Weather did not dominate our lives and certainly was not worthy of animated, lengthy discussions!
But, living in England, I too have become obsessed with the weather! It affects so many aspects of my life! In a flash it can change the course of my day! I can wake up in the morning to brilliant sunshine. With a spring in my step I can plan a long walk and even, in those far off halcyon pre COVID days, a picnic with friends. By the time I had showered and dressed the clouds had bubbled up and rain set in! I sometimes bravely soldiered on and prepared the picnic because, just as the rain so swiftly appeared, so could it vanish! Weather forecasts are a waste of time. They predict retrospectively! I have three apps and they will all be different and none of them correct!
Since starting this blog the weather has come full circle. I have seen all the seasons! I sat down to spring which soon morphed back into winter. Autumn arrived some time later and now it’s a lovely summer’s day. Birds are at the feeder. A playful breeze is tickling the new leaves on the rose bushes and the sun is shining through the skylight above my chair. It’s snug and warm inside. Outside, according to two out of the three weather apps, it’s 2C.
Never a dull moment and well worth the start of every conversation! ‘Strange weather we’re having for this time of year…….. Must be global warming or climate change!’ Or maybe its just the good old British weather! Never boring! Always a challenge!👠
Jenny Burrell 