Some thoughts about summer time. And a picture ahead of its time.

The sun is shining, it’s pleasantly warm, there is blossom everywhere - and the good weather is forecast to continue i to the bank holiday weekend at least. It was quite a surprise to realise we have another bank holiday next Monday. We do seem to be having rather a lot of them at the moment. This next one is Whit Monday. And at the end of that week we have Whit Friday, Brass Band Contest day around here. That is a sure sign the weather could change. I don’t have official statistics to hand but my gut instinct says we have has more wet and windy Whit Fridays than bright and sunny ones. Which is rather a pity as when the weather is good Whit Friday is as close to carnival as we get around here. 

I’ve checked the weather forecast though and it promises us sunny intervals and a gentle breeze for Whit Friday. Of course, weather forecasting seems to be en inexact science, rather like casting rune stones, and much can change between now and then. But all of that is in the future. The fact remains that today is bright and sunny. This may well be our summer!

I made that comment to someone in the queue for the fish-man at the market this morning, saying that we should make the best of it. She shook her head and said to me, “Don’t cast a clout ‘til May is out!”. Well, that’s all very well, but does it mean the mont of May, which can often be very pleasant, or does it refer to may blossom (aka hawthorn blossom) which is out in profusion everywhere?

We’ve almost got “summer ready”, as they say; Phil has cut the grass, I am going to trim the bushes in the back garden so that they don’t impinge too much on the available space, and we’ve put the garden bench out. There comes a point at the end of every summer when we decide to move it indoors so that it doesn’t get rained and snowed on too frequently. Fortunate.y there is room for it in the large kitchen-dining area but still we manage to bruise our legs in collision with its metal end-frames! But for now it’s back in the garden and we have somewhere to sit once more.

I came across this rather prescient picture somewhere on social media:

“Vision of the Future" published  by German margarine company, Echte Wagner in 1930. It came with the following caption:⁣

⁣

"Wireless Private Phone and Television. Everyone now has their own transmitter and receiver and can communicate with friends and relatives. But the television technology has also improved so much that people can speak to each other in real time. Transmitters and receivers are no longer bound to their location, but are always placed in a box of the size of a camera."

I wonder if the visionary who had the imagination to see that kind of future imagined how much use we would make of the little machines!

Life goes on. Stay safe and well, everyone!