Just a few weeks back I was writing in the Fortnightly Diary about how much I enjoy this time of year, all be it ‘Autumn as we know it’.
There’s something about the coolness of the air, the colours of trees which no Artist could even start to capture and the joy of collecting wood in beautiful surroundings and still some warmth on the back.

Well, the last few weeks seem to have put that poetic view of life right out the window.

Sitting inside on a cold, damp, rainy, windswept day does tend to make me think ‘what on earth am I doing here’, there’s a big wide world out there, of which remains unvisited by me and here I am, miserable and longing my life away to reach next Spring as soon as possible !

Of course, the ideal would be to live over here through Summer and live somewhere else through Winter. When I lived in Hastings I used to see the Hotels there filled with Pensioners who had locked up their home for Winter and got through the months being waited upon and not have to worry about keeping their own places warm.

Thereagain, why Hastings? It’s a nice enough place, I lived there for a few years and enjoyed it, but why not the southern most tip of Spain, or somewhere with more guaranteed heat such as Goa etc.

My idle daytime thoughts wander along, great idea, next year I’m off. Then comes the realistic side of my dream – cash !!

I’m not old yet, I’m pretty active for over 60 and can match a lot of the youngsters for ‘goability’, but there does come a time when it would be nice not to have to march out to the Lean-To to fetch the wood, the coal, bring it in, clear out the Hearth. It would be nice just to walk in the House from wherever I’ve been and flick a switch !

You will have gathered by now that the reasons I don’t leave the Country through Winter aren’t plural, they’re singular really, it is the money.

I love my Country, the rolling hills, the Village Green, the Cricket, the Pubs, the green Trees etc. but don’t you when you conquer up a picture of your nation, see it in Summer !

Fair enough, Winter does have it’s moments. It’s hard to beat a brisk walk on a sunny frosty January morning. It’s as if nature is clearing the way for better things to come, making good the wrongs of what’s happened before and does indeed show it’s great versatility in getting it right.

But of late, is this ‘natural’ or is it something we have created? It seems that looking through Weather Records, they’re almost all in the last 15 or 20 years; hottest day, coldest day, windiest day, the list goes on. Fair enough, ‘official’ records have only been going since 1914, so the pattern over the last few centuries could be a bit patchy, but certainly in my lifetime, I’ve seen changes, more extremes and more uncertainty of what’s coming next.

I’ve been watching Ray Mears great TV Series on the Northern Frontier in Canada. How do they live in those places, yet they all seem perfectly happy? Perhaps it’s us Brits are never happy with what we have!

However, onwards and upwards, I just hope the trend doesn’t continue. Our families to come are not going to thank us for what we’ve done to our Planet.

Until then, I reckon if I start saving now, I could get a long Weekend in the Costa Del Sol in January 2011!