Warmer Weather

So the cold and the moisture really doesn't do me any favours. It hurts, physically. I always know if it will rain or has rained when I first wake up, because my knees and elbows hurt.

Then we get to a time of year when the sun starts coming out.

In part, one of the reasons this makes me happy is because it means stuff is happening. Events start occurring that draw people together. Walk The Wight is today; a lot of folks get stuck into that, and I don't doubt the feeling of camaraderie that must come from making the entire distance together. This island is its best self when the sun shines on it. It's just all better.

Another reason: even basic tasks become pleasant. Going to the shops in the rain is misery, and in the cold it's a chore - my joints are stiff and walking is just shit. When it's warm, though? When it's sunny, with a faint breeze? I will happily take my time, mooch along the street with the hot sun beating down on me, leaning against lamp posts and soaking up rays as I get some fresh air.

The biggest benefit to me is that it hurts a lot less to do anything.

Sure, I sweat - and I'm a big guy, so I sweat a lot. Nobody likes to see the fat man sweat. But I catch rays, and just standing still and letting the sun soak me seems to make shit hurt less. I don't even know how or why.

Maybe it's just because, when I was in school, the hot weather promised holidays. Not travel - time off school. I hated school, for the most part, so any time I wasn't there was just beautiful. Positive association, perhaps.

All I need do is look out a window and see that sunshine, and I feel better.

Heading home from work when it's still baking hot. 8pm and it's still warm and bright - that's my favourite time. That's the best time. The working day is well over, it's just segueing over to late evening, and still it's the weather to be out and about.

It's songs like Cruisin' by Smokey Robinson that capture this. The long and lazy summer days that just slide by, when everything is hot and glorious, and the entire world feels like one huge holiday.

So if you see me smiling more from now until about September, this is why.

Just a short one, this time. Just to check in.