April in London

British people often scrunch up their faces when I say it, like they're not really believing me, but I still stick to it: The best months in the English capital are April and September. Really! When I first arrived, it was a September and I remember coming armed with my mother's warning in my head: "It rains ALL THE TIME." As she was English, I figured she knew. And yet, what did I find? Day after day of blue sky and sunshine. Yes, it got completely gloomy and grey once October rolled around, but those first weeks stuck with me. Then April came and, phew! Out came the sun again, along with the cherry and apple blossom, the daffodils, the tulips and the camillias. Lovely!

The trouble with a nice April though, is that it fools people. Year after year I see this happen: Folks come out smiling, saying how nice it is and how it looks like, this year, we're finally going to have A Good Summer. No. What we're having is a good April. It happens every year. And then the summer comes and, with it, maybe a few nice days where it feels surprisingly warm, but mostly it will be cool and grey, and folks will say, "It wasn't like this when I was young. I remember how good the summers used to be." They don't seem to understand that, when they were children, they probably didn't really notice the weather that much, that their parents put them in shorts regardless of the temperature because it was summer.

Then, along comes September and out pops the sun, and then people will go around saying, "It wasn't such a bad summer, was it? Look at all the good weather we're having!", somehow selectively forgetting all the crap weather that came between April and now....

At any event, as it's now April, we're all basking in glorious spring sunshine here in London. The green is fresh and bright on the trees, the bushes and trees are blooming, and it's fab. Enjoy it while it lasts!