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After all the hustle and bustle of Christmas, It can be refreshing to put away the Christmas decorations, although the home does feel a tad less colourful when it's back to the normal.
January is probably the most miserable month of the year in the U.K because the weather is a continuous stream of cold, grey, cloudy, wet and windy weather, and then that's followed by February which generally starts off by being hit with a blast of cold air and snow. I did get talking to a shop assistant at the till the other day who loved this type of weather because she is allergic to the sun. From early March she has to use sun cream or else she comes out all red and blotchy, plus the heat just makes her feel all prickly and uncomfortable. I have met others who do not like the sun and are happier with the darker months of the British winter. For me personally, I prefer the sun and the heat and as I sit here on a cold, and a very overcast grey day I find my thoughts drifting off to sunny places.
The garden is bare, although that can be a blessing in disguise because it means there is no weeding to be done, or grass to cut, or bushes to trim or leafs to sweep up, so like I said it can be a blessing. Then again it also means I can't sit outside with my shorts on, shirt off and a cold drink in my hand. I do like to sit at the garden table when I'm writing on my Daniel Jones series of books, under the shade of the giant umbrella with the sun blazing above, set against a backdrop of clear blue skies, maybe the odd slim white whisper of a cloud floats by and there is no, or just, a little light breeze. It's in these all too infrequent moments that we get in my home country that does make it feel like heaven on earth.
We all need moments like that, although I am very lucky to live in such a peaceful and law-abiding country (well most of the time) and I can see why less fortunate people who have grimy lives in desperate poverty, or war-torn or law-less places around the world make such desperate efforts to get here. They have long and dangerous journeys through the countries bordering on the Southern Mediterranean before crossing to either Southern France, Spain, Italy, Greece, Bulgaria, Turkey or the Balkan countries; then travel through Europe before getting to ports like Calais on the North Sea, their final destination before reaching the shores of Gt Britain. I do find the illegal migrant camps outside the French ports with tens of thousands of people living in terrible conditions a bit puzzling though because as I sit here writing this blog with the miserable weather outside; I find my soul aching to go in the opposite direction and end up in one of these aforesaid places. So much so I've just booked a two week family holiday in Bulgaria! And long-term I would love to be able to reside in ones of these sunnier countries on a more permanent base. I take it as a compliment that all these poor souls would rather live in the dark, dank, cold, wet, grey of the British winter ( and quite often the spring, summer, and autumn as well) rather than in Italy, France, Greece or Spain. The United States and Gt Britain seems to be one of the first choices for people seeking refuge, or a better life, and says a lot about the freedoms and opportunities we enjoy, and which I'm afraid a lot of local people take for granted.
I suppose it's one of those blindingly obvious madness's that no one notices, but which truly shows what a crazy world most of humanity inhabits. I would say deep down most people in the U.K dream of escaping for good to somewhere warm, dry and sunny even if that country has a dubious system of government, or their citizens lack basic freedoms, while just as many people in those countries dream of escaping to the U.K!
Regards
Mark
After all the hustle and bustle of Christmas, It can be refreshing to put away the Christmas decorations, although the home does feel a tad less colourful when it's back to the normal.
January is probably the most miserable month of the year in the U.K because the weather is a continuous stream of cold, grey, cloudy, wet and windy weather, and then that's followed by February which generally starts off by being hit with a blast of cold air and snow. I did get talking to a shop assistant at the till the other day who loved this type of weather because she is allergic to the sun. From early March she has to use sun cream or else she comes out all red and blotchy, plus the heat just makes her feel all prickly and uncomfortable. I have met others who do not like the sun and are happier with the darker months of the British winter. For me personally, I prefer the sun and the heat and as I sit here on a cold, and a very overcast grey day I find my thoughts drifting off to sunny places.
The garden is bare, although that can be a blessing in disguise because it means there is no weeding to be done, or grass to cut, or bushes to trim or leafs to sweep up, so like I said it can be a blessing. Then again it also means I can't sit outside with my shorts on, shirt off and a cold drink in my hand. I do like to sit at the garden table when I'm writing on my Daniel Jones series of books, under the shade of the giant umbrella with the sun blazing above, set against a backdrop of clear blue skies, maybe the odd slim white whisper of a cloud floats by and there is no, or just, a little light breeze. It's in these all too infrequent moments that we get in my home country that does make it feel like heaven on earth.
We all need moments like that, although I am very lucky to live in such a peaceful and law-abiding country (well most of the time) and I can see why less fortunate people who have grimy lives in desperate poverty, or war-torn or law-less places around the world make such desperate efforts to get here. They have long and dangerous journeys through the countries bordering on the Southern Mediterranean before crossing to either Southern France, Spain, Italy, Greece, Bulgaria, Turkey or the Balkan countries; then travel through Europe before getting to ports like Calais on the North Sea, their final destination before reaching the shores of Gt Britain. I do find the illegal migrant camps outside the French ports with tens of thousands of people living in terrible conditions a bit puzzling though because as I sit here writing this blog with the miserable weather outside; I find my soul aching to go in the opposite direction and end up in one of these aforesaid places. So much so I've just booked a two week family holiday in Bulgaria! And long-term I would love to be able to reside in ones of these sunnier countries on a more permanent base. I take it as a compliment that all these poor souls would rather live in the dark, dank, cold, wet, grey of the British winter ( and quite often the spring, summer, and autumn as well) rather than in Italy, France, Greece or Spain. The United States and Gt Britain seems to be one of the first choices for people seeking refuge, or a better life, and says a lot about the freedoms and opportunities we enjoy, and which I'm afraid a lot of local people take for granted.
I suppose it's one of those blindingly obvious madness's that no one notices, but which truly shows what a crazy world most of humanity inhabits. I would say deep down most people in the U.K dream of escaping for good to somewhere warm, dry and sunny even if that country has a dubious system of government, or their citizens lack basic freedoms, while just as many people in those countries dream of escaping to the U.K!
Regards
Mark
