A Day in the Life
I use this blog primarily to share in my travel adventures, so I often forget about it when I don't have folders full of photos to share. I thought I'd try and remedy that today with a story of my day. I know, reading about what I did today is a rather boring endeavor to many. But Mom reads this, and I figure she'll enjoy it. Besides, my days now are so different from my days in Florida that, to me anyway, it is a kind of new adventure. Even if I've been doing it for over fifteen months.
After several days of wind and rain (courtesy of the remnants of Hurricanes Maria and Lee), today's forecast called for a non-wet day. I had a few items I wanted to get from the craft store, so I decided to postpone my morning dissertating until the afternoon and walk to the store. I double-checked the forecast. It called for a cloudy sky to make way to a partly cloudy one, a 0% chance of rain, and a temperature of 54°F. I decided to put on my quilted vest for warmth and my Harris tweed cap to keep my hair from blowing all over the place.
Nimue didn't want me to go.
The walk in was pleasant and uneventful. It's about 1.5 miles to the retail park, so it took me about 30 minutes to get there (I have a very short stride, so even though my legs are pumping away, I make slow progress.) I stopped at McDonald's for a quick splurge. For once, it wasn't packed and I had the upper dining room almost entirely to myself. As I ate, I noticed this out the window.
It was actually a full rainbow, though you can't tell from this pic. And it lasted for my entire lunch. It even got brighter and thicker for awhile. I took that as a promise of continued fair weather. Silly, silly me.
By the time I finished my meander around the craft store and bagged up my purchases, it was raining . . . hard. Well, hard for Scotland. In my 15 months here in Inverness, it's had a Florida-style downpour once, maybe twice. The rain here is usually quite gentle. But gentle or no, by the time I was about a third of the way home my jeans and vest were quite damp. The only waterproof garment I had was my hat, but the wind had picked up so the rain kept blowing in my face. So the top of my head was dry, but that was about it. And the lack of any sun combined with a fairly strong wind made my legs quite cold.
As I walked, I chastised myself for believing the forecast. I know better than that! To say Scottish weather is changeable is a gross understatement. The official forecast can say one thing at 9 a.m. and something entirely different by 9:15. Which is why, as I reached the halfway point wondering how long it would be before the wetness of my vest got through to my shirt, the rain not only stopped, but the sun blazed forth. The clouds scudded away and the sky was a brilliant blue with just a few white, puffy clouds by the time I got home. And with the sun came the warmth. I was glad to take my vest and hat off. I was actually sweating!
Tomorrow is bin day. They'll be picking up the recycling, so I took a couple of cat food boxes out to the bin that we had piled up. That leaves just one big box for the next recycling pick-up. A big, empty box that proved a siren call to my cats.
What is it with cats and boxes?
Nimue grew tired of the box and swapped it for a view of now-sunny outside. Myrddin preferred the peace of the box, I guess. At least until I started up the stairs and he zoomed past me fussing for his lunch.
This is our little ground-floor vestibule. It's not big enough to act like a porch, so we use it for Steve's toolbox (which you can see in these pics) and a set of metal shelves on which we keep our shopping bags, cat carriers, etc. The cats are only allowed out there when one of us is there, so it's a treat they seem to enjoy. I'm standing in the interior door in this shot. Behind me and to my left is the long staircase to our first floor (second floor in US parlance) apartment.
So how was my day today different than if I spent it in the Florida? Well, for one, I wouldn't be walking in Florida. Jacksonville was too spread out. And while our neighborhood had a few restaurants that were within easy enough reach, we rarely walked to them because it was often too hot. I am not a hot-weather person. I hate it. With an intense passion. Hot and humid weather? That is hell on earth as far as I'm concerned. My outdoor life in Florida from about May until November consisted mostly of me moving from air-conditioned house to air-conditioned car to air-conditioned destination, and then reverse it.
Sure, Scotland does have rainy days. But as I said, the rain is gentle. So long as you've got the right clothes (which I didn't today), it's not a problem. During the summer, it's rarely hotter than the low 70s. We had a few weeks where it pegged into the low 80s. But unlike Florida, the summers here are not all that humid. So the breeze retains some coolness and all you need is a spot of shade to cool back down. So I walk here. A lot. We also don't own a car (by choice), so if I need to do anything I have to walk to it. Or at the very least, walk to the bus stop. I am far more active here than in Florida.
Honestly, give me Scotlands ever-changing, often wet weather over Florida's hot, humid hell any day of the week. The only thing I miss about Florida is the people I left behind.
And thus ends my blog about my day today. Or at least, my day through to the early afternoon. Once I publish this, my nose to firmly back to the dissertation grindstone. I have a chapter to edit.
After several days of wind and rain (courtesy of the remnants of Hurricanes Maria and Lee), today's forecast called for a non-wet day. I had a few items I wanted to get from the craft store, so I decided to postpone my morning dissertating until the afternoon and walk to the store. I double-checked the forecast. It called for a cloudy sky to make way to a partly cloudy one, a 0% chance of rain, and a temperature of 54°F. I decided to put on my quilted vest for warmth and my Harris tweed cap to keep my hair from blowing all over the place.
The walk in was pleasant and uneventful. It's about 1.5 miles to the retail park, so it took me about 30 minutes to get there (I have a very short stride, so even though my legs are pumping away, I make slow progress.) I stopped at McDonald's for a quick splurge. For once, it wasn't packed and I had the upper dining room almost entirely to myself. As I ate, I noticed this out the window.
It was actually a full rainbow, though you can't tell from this pic. And it lasted for my entire lunch. It even got brighter and thicker for awhile. I took that as a promise of continued fair weather. Silly, silly me.
By the time I finished my meander around the craft store and bagged up my purchases, it was raining . . . hard. Well, hard for Scotland. In my 15 months here in Inverness, it's had a Florida-style downpour once, maybe twice. The rain here is usually quite gentle. But gentle or no, by the time I was about a third of the way home my jeans and vest were quite damp. The only waterproof garment I had was my hat, but the wind had picked up so the rain kept blowing in my face. So the top of my head was dry, but that was about it. And the lack of any sun combined with a fairly strong wind made my legs quite cold.
As I walked, I chastised myself for believing the forecast. I know better than that! To say Scottish weather is changeable is a gross understatement. The official forecast can say one thing at 9 a.m. and something entirely different by 9:15. Which is why, as I reached the halfway point wondering how long it would be before the wetness of my vest got through to my shirt, the rain not only stopped, but the sun blazed forth. The clouds scudded away and the sky was a brilliant blue with just a few white, puffy clouds by the time I got home. And with the sun came the warmth. I was glad to take my vest and hat off. I was actually sweating!
Tomorrow is bin day. They'll be picking up the recycling, so I took a couple of cat food boxes out to the bin that we had piled up. That leaves just one big box for the next recycling pick-up. A big, empty box that proved a siren call to my cats.
This is our little ground-floor vestibule. It's not big enough to act like a porch, so we use it for Steve's toolbox (which you can see in these pics) and a set of metal shelves on which we keep our shopping bags, cat carriers, etc. The cats are only allowed out there when one of us is there, so it's a treat they seem to enjoy. I'm standing in the interior door in this shot. Behind me and to my left is the long staircase to our first floor (second floor in US parlance) apartment.
So how was my day today different than if I spent it in the Florida? Well, for one, I wouldn't be walking in Florida. Jacksonville was too spread out. And while our neighborhood had a few restaurants that were within easy enough reach, we rarely walked to them because it was often too hot. I am not a hot-weather person. I hate it. With an intense passion. Hot and humid weather? That is hell on earth as far as I'm concerned. My outdoor life in Florida from about May until November consisted mostly of me moving from air-conditioned house to air-conditioned car to air-conditioned destination, and then reverse it.
Sure, Scotland does have rainy days. But as I said, the rain is gentle. So long as you've got the right clothes (which I didn't today), it's not a problem. During the summer, it's rarely hotter than the low 70s. We had a few weeks where it pegged into the low 80s. But unlike Florida, the summers here are not all that humid. So the breeze retains some coolness and all you need is a spot of shade to cool back down. So I walk here. A lot. We also don't own a car (by choice), so if I need to do anything I have to walk to it. Or at the very least, walk to the bus stop. I am far more active here than in Florida.
Honestly, give me Scotlands ever-changing, often wet weather over Florida's hot, humid hell any day of the week. The only thing I miss about Florida is the people I left behind.
And thus ends my blog about my day today. Or at least, my day through to the early afternoon. Once I publish this, my nose to firmly back to the dissertation grindstone. I have a chapter to edit.
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