Stormy Weather

[BBMmk2]

Been rather a foggy woggy dew day over here to Marthe!!

[salymap]

I heard the great singer of years ago, Richard Lewis sing 'The foggy, foggy dew' on R3 today. Quite different from Peter Pears but full of meaning, nevertheless. His 'Gerontius' was marvelous too, next to Heddle Nash, who was the best imo.

[aka Calum Da Jazbo]

cheers salymap

[salymap]

Whatever one feels about Remembrance Day, poppies, etc I'm glad to see a fine day, at least in London, for the men and women who march in parades.

Actually sunny here at the moment.

[antongould]

According to the Observer Nature thinks it's spring in Sidcup!

[salymap]

According to the Observer Nature thinks it's spring in Sidcup!

But what does the Observer say about your part of the world, anton? Surely it must have a big review of Washington,Tyne & Wear.

[antongould]

I don't need t'Observer dear lady it's grey and damp and all the beautiful red leaves have fallen from Lady G's acer!

[marthe]

Gusty today with sun and cloud. A bit too brisk for leaf raking. Our beautiful Acer palmatum is still showing its splendid red leaves.

[Anna]

I clicked on the start of this thread and found we were all reporting snow on 27th November last year! Here, it's been blue skies and sunshine all the way, windows are open and even the sound of lawnmowers have been drifting in the air ....... I love Acers, the colour is amazing

[Serial_Apologist]

I clicked on the start of this thread and found we were all reporting snow on 27th November last year! Here, it's been blue skies and sunshine all the way, windows are open and even the sound of lawnmowers have been drifting in the air .......

Lovely here in London too - surprised just how warm the sun can still be halfway through November. There was even a bumble bee on one of the roses! Too late for any sunbathing now, however...

[Nick Armstrong]

"Originally Posted by salymap
Does anyone else really dislike the long dark evenings as I do? They've come so quickly this year it seems"

As I get older, I find that I resent the shortening day length more and more, salymap - even to the point of a mild form of depression.

Oddly enough I still rather like the October - December shortening of the days... I'm still a sucker for the lighting of the lamps, the autumn / early winter late afternoon with a cup of tea and a black & white film.... Especially if like today, it's been a mild and beautiful sunny day, and it's still not too cold after dark (I nipped to the shops on my bike last night around 7 with nothing over my shirt, and wasn't a bit chilly). It's true tho saly that the shortening of the days seems particularly rapid this year!!

(Actually I realise I quoted Eliot's first Prelude, which conjures up what I like about the season:

The winter evening settles down
With smell of steaks in passageways.
Six o'clock.
The burnt-out ends of smoky days.
And now a gusty shower wraps
The grimy scraps
Of withered leaves about your feet
And newspapers from vacant lots;
The showers beat
On broken blinds and chimneypots,
And at the corner of the street
A lonely cab-horse steams and stamps.
And then the lighting of the lamps.)


But.... what increasingly I don't like, and get depressed by, Ammy, is the long, long haul from Christmas to any sort of weather that doesn't make my eyes run with cold as I cycle - usually late April / early May. That January - February - March slog gets me down - the dark evenings have ceased to be snug and cosy, and an interesting variation on the summer theme. They are just raw and grim, and it's usually when the snow and ice comes... The last few years it's been the winter / early spring chill and dark that I hate.

If - when... WHEN!! - I ever won the EuroMillions (I only enter when it's over £100 mill ), I'd spend May - Christmas based in London, but then for New Year I'd go out to my ocean-front property in Santa Monica (perfect winter climate, for me) alternating with my crewed yacht toddling around suitably temperate island groups from January to May...

I think I might start an "if I won the Euro Millions rollover" thread, to see what others' fantasies are...

[vinteuil]

Oddly enough I still rather like the October - December shortening of the days... I'm still a sucker for the lighting of the lamps, the autumn / early winter late afternoon with a cup of tea and a black & white film...

... me too. And at this time of year I always think of Atkinson Grimshaw -

https://www.johnatkinsongrimshaw.org

- who I think captures this time of year in urban Britain better than any.

But after a time I get bored by the dark and the cold and long for the sun - the 'uman condition, ain't it??

[Nick Armstrong]

... me too. And at this time of year I always think of Atkinson Grimshaw -

https://www.johnatkinsongrimshaw.org

- who I think captures this time of year in urban Britain better than any.

Spot on, vinchaud !!!

[salymap]

'The burnt out ends of smoky days'.....I do love Eliot and must read some soon. Where was the bit about smoke curling round a window frame, was it in 'Prufrock'?

[vinteuil]

'The burnt out ends of smoky days'.....I do love Eliot and must read some soon. Where was the bit about smoke curling round a window frame, was it in 'Prufrock'?

yes, from The Love Song of J Alfred Prufrock -

/ ... /

The yellow fog that rubs its back upon the window-panes,
The yellow smoke that rubs its muzzle on the window-panes,
Licked its tongue into the corners of the evening,
Lingered upon the pools that stand in drains,
Let fall upon its back the soot that falls from chimneys,
Slipped by the terrace, made a sudden leap,
And seeing that it was a soft October night,
Curled once about the house, and fell asleep.

/ ... /