Never Satisfied

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Well summer has definitely arrived and with it soaring heat and humidity. The daily variations in our temperature never cease to amaze me and to the extent that differences of 10 degrees celsius are not uncommon. So this week we are being treated to temperatures in the twenties, last week there were days when they failed to reach 14 degrees. Mind it is hard to be satisfied and I'm quickly learning not to plan retirement around expectations of the perfect day; the British climate hardly knows such a thing!

So today I regret that after completing a fitness class and a gym workout, I had to declare the day too hot for anything productive and took instead to a reclined position on the garden lawn with a glass of water in one hand and a book in the other. Moreover and for one nasty moment I thought about the luxury of an air conditioned office.  All those years when I have spent summer trapped inside an office building and suddenly I am lured by the fantasy of a cool environment with a chilled water dispenser. It didn't take long to get that fantasy in check, especially when, should the heat really become unbearable, I can presumably always go and sit in the car with its air con unit, taking a jug of water from the fridge with me.


Also, it was only yesterday when I was revelling in the joys of visiting the arboretum at Thorp Perrow in magnificent weather, free of the weekend crowds and remembering how much I had longed for the freedom to enjoy such summer days when trapped behind a desk.



Comments

Mddy said…
That sounds wonderfully relaxing Carrie, although I would probably want to replace the water with a gin and tonic! It's hard to imagine the heat, steeped as we are here in the depths of winter at approximately 16 degrees and recovering from a week of rain that has made everything damp, Woe is me!

When it is summer here people often laugh at me for carrying a jacket or cardigan - my excuse is being English and realizing, as we do, that you never know when the sun will "go in" and the temperature will drop sharply, It never does that here but old habits die hard.....

As for the air conditioning, you never know how loud it is until someone turns it off. If you really need to get cool, may I suggest retail therapy or movies. Don't even think about work.
1 July 2015 at 01:42
Caree Risover said…
You certainly describe the ingrained British mentality with the weather so accurately. Regardless of the season, we have to be ready for anything especially as the forecast itself is rarely accurate more than a day or two ahead. One day on from the entry above and the temperature is now well into the 30's and almost unheard of for this part of the country. Leaving the air conditioned gym this morning, I thought about the office only in the context of sympathy for friends still working on such a fantastic day; or maybe it was smugness! However and because these conditions never last, I'm heading into the garden to enjoy them. Shopping and cinema remain rainy day pursuits here, we get the sun and heat so rarely in Northern England. Only 10 days ago, people were putting their central heating on with a daytime temperature of 11!
1 July 2015 at 13:55
Caree Risover said…
Madly, we know the British weather too well! An alert has just been issued for hail 30-50mm with some super cells, winds of up to 60mph and thunderstorms!
1 July 2015 at 14:22
Maddy said…
When they say climate change, they mean climate change!
3 July 2015 at 02:27
rolekkyle said…
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
15 March 2017 at 15:53
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