I noticed something this winter just past. It was something that I didn’t do and which I didn’t notice I hadn’t done until yesterday, yet it’s something I did religiously every year while living through all those icy inland rural winters, so I guess that’s testament to just how different the winter temps are here on the coast (thank goodness!).
You see, the thing I didn’t do was my usual sashay with wild abandon around the heater while rugged up in my winter woolies on the day of the Winter Solstice. That’s not to say I didn’t observe the date because I did, but I did it standing out on the deck in the warm sunshine which was lovely and which completely negated the desire for wild shenanigans because…well, it was warm and sunny!
I am incredibly thankful for that of course but when I was shivering through all those inland winters the Solstice was my lifeline. It meant that even though I still had July and August to cope with, the sun was on the rise again in our southern skies and the days would gradually become longer and I was just a little bit closer to warmer weather when I could emerge from the cold and all my layers and bask in the balmy days and nights of spring and summer. Oh joy, bliss and cartwheels etc.
So you can see why the Solstice was such a big deal for me. The thing is, I absolutely abhor cold weather. I’m not into leaden skies and biting winds. I don’t cope with it and always said I would happily hibernate for the whole three months if I could, which is why I’m thrilled to the back teeth with this coastal region. Sure, there were a few cool days and nights but cool is very different to icy cold. I can cope with cool but go down in a heap as soon as the mercury drops to single digits. To be completely honest, I don’t even feel like I’ve had a winter!
This is wonderful and I’m guessing that when the Autumn Equinox finally rolls around I won’t be nicking out on the usual sorties and stocking up on chocolate and other feel-good snacks like I used to (which for the record didn’t really help much because it was just too cold to get excited about anything and besides, while it tasted great, it actually did nothing for my winter doldrums) because I won’t need that kind of support from here on in. This should not be read as a negative reflection on chocolate however. No woman in her right mind would ever say anything negative about chocolate!
But I’ve had almost a year of this heavenly climate and I’m so thankful, especially when I think back to the days when I was shivering myself silly in houses that were inadequately insulated, considering their location, trying to type with fingers that were stiff while dreaming of sunny climes and sandy beaches and wishing to all that’s holy that That’s Where I Was!
Then I downloaded a pretty beach scene as the new wallpaper for my computer and ate a lot of chocolate.
Yes I know, that makes me sound all desperate and pathetic but on the other hand it just goes to show what a bit of desperation and a lot of creative visualising can achieve and in my more spacey moments I can almost believe that I somehow induced the Universe to open the door for me to a lifestyle that would suit me down to the ground.
Well why not? Stranger things have happened…