Summer is a-cumin in

So it’s officially summer.  That’s good. What’s your favourite season?

Let’s see how they measure up:

SUMMER.

Pro:

Occasional warm sunny weather, even in Britain

Wimbledon (must revise my mental list of singles winners: those confusing Williams sisters!)

Day trips out to nice places

Picnics, BBQs etc. Even I can tolerate an occasional barbecue (strange English custom)

Strawberries, raspberries, cherries

Light nights

Summer holidays

Sunlight through leaves

(Other people’s) gardens at their peak

The ancient “summer is a-cumin in” song, which reminds me of my father

Con:

Insects (we’re going to the Hebrides)

Difficulty in filling rotas because of other people’s summer holidays

The moral obligation to eat salad

The annual annoyance of shops advertising “back to school” clothes and stationery before the holidays have even started

Lawn mowing and hedge cutting

For those with school-age children, the hassle of arranging childcare

AUTUMN.

Pro:

Changing trees – brown, gold and crunchy leaves

Bracing winds

New dramas on TV – this is less prominent now that summer TV has improved

Re-discovering “cosy” and huddling round real or fake fires

Sunrise and sunset at civilised times to watch

Con:

The increasing attempts of shops to turn Hallowe’en into an orange Christmas

The ghastly commercial build-up to actual Christmas

For those who suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder (not me, I am fortunate) the dread of oncoming darkness and low mood

Rain, cold and fog

WINTER.

Pro:

Advent and Christmas proper

Christmas lights, and candles generally

The right to eat comfort food without guilt

And to stay indoors with a book or box set

The beauty of frost and (more rarely) snow

Also of leafless trees

The optimistic prayers and list-making of New Year!

A really long holiday for large swathes of the nation, when things do actually stop, and one can rest

Boxing Day sales for the odd people who don’t want to stop

Crocuses and snowdrops

Con:

If it’s cold, concern for the homeless. The necessity for the Winter Shelter. If it’s mild, worry about global warming.

The difficulties and even dangers of frost and snow (burst pipes, icy roads etc)

Fuel bills

Coughs and colds

Dreich and unpleasant weather for days on end

SPRING.

Pro:

New flowers and later new leaves

More light

The smell of hyacinths

Baby birds at the Lake

Lent and Easter

Con:

Optimism fading, and the realisation that you’re supposed to be happy in spring, but all the same problems are still there (but see Lent and Easter)

Dreich and unpleasant weather that ought to be over by now

Tax and other financial deadlines.

In fact, I haven’t got a favourite season. I just enjoy participating in them all, and watching them change.

What’s yours, and what can you add?

Love from the PPI Blogger