It's currently 32 degrees in our office with 4 fans going, Facebook and Twitter are full of updates stating the bloomin obvious that it's H-O-T! I'm trying my hardest not to move should I melt into a pool of polka dots, tattoos and earrings. Pollen is my nemesis stabbing my eyes, flooding my nose and prickling my eczema and I feel rough from not sleeping well the last couple of nights from the heat - although it's amazing how quickly the noise from a fan can fade into the background. Everyone is short and snappy for the same reasons but I actually love this.
As you all know summer is my favourite season and even when it's this hot and on occasion makes me as snappy as the next person the heat and sunshine still lifts my spirits. I may be stuck in a furnace of an office but I like knowing that I can venture outside to the courtyard with Helen at lunch and enjoy the warmth. I like that a BBQ is always potentially on the cards. Eating dinner or lunch of any kind outside is one of life's simple pleasures. I like knowing that tomorrow post-work I'll be able to fit in a swim at the hospital pool and still have time to put the girls on the grass as it won't get dark or chilly 'till late in the evening (in fact last night I was still reading my book in the garden at 9.30 - the girls had long since put themselves to bed!).
Speaking of swimming, as some of you will have seen from my Instagram post, I had my first swim since 2006 last week. I'd forgotten how much I love being in the water! Years of having a boyfriend who couldn't and wouldn't swim, thinking I was too fat for a swimming costume and my natural abilities as a jellyfish magnet were dismissed the minute I jumped in. I find cutting through the water exhilarating and then floating lazily soothing for the soul. By the end of my 45 minute session my entire body ached, I couldn't move my arms without cramping but I was on a real high. I've re-discovered something I'd lost from earlier, happier times. I don't care about health benefits, whether I may lose weight, doubtful since I'm currently eating my (quite considerable) body weight in Ben & Jerry's for their 'cooling properties' or getting a tan (dear god no). I care about getting back in touch with my inner water-baby who had to be physically dragged from the sea or pool as a kid.
Us Brits aren't cut out for the heat, we do tend to turn into a sweating, wobbly mass the moment the temperature passes about 22c but in a few days/weeks time when it's grey and raining we'll be complaining about "the Great British Summer" . I am at the advantage of not being stuck on the train to London every day (well when they run) and only having to spend 40 minutes tops on the bus home, admittedly that was a test in itself yesterday with screaming brats and two older gentlemen who spent the entire journey from the hospital to town complaining about the heat and why couldn't do something about it? I intend to make the most of the current weather, tomorrow it's the summer solstice which means a 4am trip to the downs to watch the sun come up, marking the high point of the year (I try to stamp down the pessimist in me that points out that the nights will now be slowly drawing in).
And let's face it, as a country we could really do with a few rays of sunshine at the moment.
Love Jen
XxxX
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