Of course the sun will shine again
by - 22:48 on 17 July 2007
I can’t tell you how much my heart used to sink when I had to write a Scottish weather section every year for this American guidebook publisher. I mean, what do you say? That it isn’t as bad as the stereotype? That it is a small country but you get wide variations depending on where you are? It all sounded so unconvincing. Especially the paragraph titled ‘What to Pack for the Scottish Weather.’ Well, I don’t know. Especially when I had to sound so earnest. All I wanted to say was ‘Look, it won’t be as bad as you think – and you may be pleasantly surprised.’
Except for the summer of 2007, that is, when even the most cheerful and optimistic of the natives are beginning to flag. There’s something relentless about the colour of the sky, day after day. Sure, we have the odd hour or two of hesitant brightness – even one whole day of sun here in the north recently. Actually it was on St Swithin’s Day, July 15th, with its old traditions of predicting 40 days of downpour to follow should it rain on that day. So we’ll be OK. Hmmm.
Living under the tyrannical regime of dogs, I have to take my share of dog exercising like other owners, rain or shine. These pictures (above) show the prevailing weather conditions recently. Look closely and you can see two figures paddling, proving that it wasn’t actually cold, I suppose.
So, to counterbalance it, I feel obliged to let you see the one recent day of sun – warm enough for one overheated tyke (above) to feel the need to cool down. (That’s a ball, by the way, not her tongue.)
Incidentally, the tall white object in the background is Covesea Lighthouse, by Lossiemouth. Do not confuse it with a rocket about to take off from nearby RAF Lossiemouth, bearing space tourists courtesy of Sir Richard Branson’s company, Virgin Galactic. Much talk in the press, but it looks as though we still have a little way to go before this becomes a reality for the well-heeled. Still, a great way of escaping the weather.
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