Short story #2 - Come Rain or Shine...

… and lets admit, it’s more often rain than shine and this is quite a long short-story!

I know I’ve said the weather is the weather and you can’t live your life waiting for a sunny day, but when people in their 70s say that they can’t remember a May as cold, wet and windy as this one, you know things are serious. I’ve been wanting to write about the weather since April. Growing up I learned all about the four seasons: Winter, Spring, Summer and Autumn if you’re English or Fall if you’re American. No one prepared me for skipping a season. Winter was extended by three months and then suddenly last Saturday on the 29th of May, BOOM! It was Summer!!

If you live in the UK you know exactly what I am talking about. If you live in the faraway land of Greece you probably have a smug smile on your face, because I KNOW you’ve had lovely weather. Passing comments like, how early you need to go out running, before it gets TOO HOT, photos of sandals you’ve bought, alfresco meals, days on the beach, I’ve seen them all and I have silently suffered through them and pretended I was very happy for you. Meanwhile on this side of the channel, we endured wet and cold days, over and over again and even the biggest shit-weather lovers I know, were becoming desperate for some warmth and sunshine.

Running in May and soaked to the bone!

Doug’s dad was saying the other day that he hasn’t seen many swallows around. Of course not. Why would any swallow in their right mind fly all the way from Africa to the UK? Thank god Vivaldi wasn’t composing in the UK this year or we would have ended up with a symphony for one season only. Winter! We had not one but two dinner reservations cancelled a couple of weeks ago. The first one because the table was outdoors and the wind was too strong for them to serve us in the garden and the second one because, surprise, surprise, the wind caused a power cut in the whole area and the restaurant wouldn’t even open that night. The plants were not growing, the flowers have been blown away, our heating bill will be sky high, my bright coloured pedicure had never seen the light of day, and I am running out of time to wear all my summer clothes. A tragedy any way you look at it. Oh one more thing: I am as pale as I was in December, but at least I’ve got Doug near me most of the time and he is even paler which makes me look sort of tanned! Result!

You can't beat Brighton on a sunny day! How tanned do I look?

I am not done. A lovely couple we know through the Upper Beeding Runners group, recently went on a holiday in a Lion Lodge, Safari Park in the UK. Where do I start? Who knew there was a lion lodge in this country? I think lions, I think Africa. I think desert, merciless sun, or maybe I think jungle, tropical heat. I certainly don’t think UK, heavy rain, light rain, showers, drizzle, overcast, cloudy, heavy downpours and another million words to say: it’s raining. I am convinced the lions living here think the same. I saw the photos on facebook, I saw their faces. It was like they were saying, hmm what’s the deal? ok guys, we agreed to live here and put up with the weather, but come on, skipping spring was not in the agreement.

Threatening skies, long leggings and jackets...

One rain led to another and we eventually got to June. The sun came out. The temperature went up. Earlier in the week I was in the car one morning listening to the radio and that’s when I heard it. I should have seen it coming. The guy said “today will be the hottest day of the year”. Well that’s not saying much is it???? When 12 degrees is the highest temperature since January 1st, a day with temperatures of around 16 degrees is the hottest day yes, but is it REALLY WORTH A SPECIAL MENTION? I pause for breath and remind myself that I live in the land of trivia weather statistics: the hottest day of the year, the wettest day of the last 2.5 years, the windiest Sunday, the coldest lunchtime, the first Wednesday with only 3 minutes of rain in a decade. Ah, I laugh, but deep down I love it!

Rant over. On Tuesday morning I went out for a run. Before going out I thought of Stavros, a friend of mine and fellow runner, who lives in Belgium. We are in strong competition on who has the worst weather. Anyway, we were talking one day in winter and were both getting ready to go running in freezing conditions. He even had snow I think, and he was saying how we put up with a thousand horrible weather runs so we can appreciate the one good weather run even more. (how’s that for motivation?) Tuesday was one of those days. Sun was out, there was no wind, it was warm, it was just ideal. I finished the run and was walking home through the park and felt so happy in that moment. I stretched my arms out and smiled and wanted to do what Pixel our dog does, dive into the grass and roll around. I didn’t because I am not a dog and would probably end up hurting myself and also I had to get back to work, but I cherish that moment and the feeling of life bursting and the endless possibilities of all life has to offer, that I associate with sunshine.

The perfect table. Liz in the shade, Sara and me in the sun!

Everyone seemed happier this week and wore their shorts, hats and flipflops and sat in the sun and drank cold lager. It’s now only a matter of time before I hear someone complaining that it’s too hot… just wait for it. When it happens, I will smile politely and try very hard to keep my mouth shut!