Friday, January 25, 2013

Those Long Winter Nights


The main thing that I don’t miss about an English Winter is not so much the weather, but actually the long nights.  I can take the cold and I actually like snow (as long as it’s fresh and not slushy), but the extended periods of darkness can just be plain depressing.

The problem is that if the daytimes are overcast in England, you can actually spend a week or more when it never seems to get light.  You get up in darkness, go to work in darkness, spend the day indoors looking out at the greyness and then return home in the dark.  The experience of being stuck inside can also be exaggerated by an element of claustrophobia in many cases, given that the size of rooms and houses are generally more modest in England, compared with the USA.

I have long speculated that the darkness contributes to the melancholic streak in the English character.  Just as the US is 2 notches to the right on the political scale, Blighty is 2 notches towards miserableness on the chirpiness meter.

Not everyone in the US lives in Florida, of course.  Some of the northern states have winters much harsher than Northern England, or even Highland Scotland, for that matter.  Some US Northerners, nicknamed ‘Snowbirds’ travel down to Florida for the Winter months in order to avoid the worst of it. 

December in St Augustine, Florida
I do miss having four distinct seasons, though.  In Florida it is (almost too) hot and humid from May to September; sunny and comfortable for Spring (March to April) and Autumn (October to November); with the Winter months being more like October in the UK: cold, but only occasionally freezing.  Actually, that’s not true, the Florida nights can be cold, but the daytimes are often sunnier and warmer than a typical Summer’s day in England.  

Ironically, because the Winter can be so dark and miserable in England, Spring can be a truly joyous time - when, much to everyone’s relief, Nature literally seems to ‘spring’ back to life after lying dormant for what seems like an age.  You don’t get that in Florida.  It just gets gradually hotter (and stickier) from February onwards.

Snow in Headingley, Leeds
I am certainly not moaning.  I can play tennis here all year round here, which is pretty amazing.  The Winter in Florida, if anything, can be better for outdoor sports.  I still remember the singles match I played at the height of Summer, when it was over a 100 degrees F and even the spectators in the shade were dripping with perspiration – it was more like a war of attrition than a sporting contest!

It is also true to say that human cultures always tend to adapt to their situation and make the most of it.  The ‘indoor culture’ in England has no doubt contributed to its wealth of literature, music, and numerous hobbies and pastimes.  There is also no real equivalent in Florida of stumbling up a snow covered hill, entering a pub with a real fire, and supping a foamy pint of warm ale whilst you thaw out.

English Winters can still be depressing though…  



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10 comments:

  1. 12 degrees F the past few nights up here. Florida is better say Arizona with seasons at least.

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  2. I definitely do not miss English winters, and I was reminded of that this past Christmas. 8 hours of daylight, and grey daylight at that, do not a happy Eve make.

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  3. You're right. The weather can be depressing, but I like your conclusion that the Brits have developed pastimes and hobbies and cultural activities as a result of the long days indoors.

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  4. I always dreaded around September when school started - it seemed like winter was just around the corner and I had to brace myself for the darkness. Days on end, where you had to have the lights on in your house even in the middle of the day for light. I love snow in England - it seemed to bright things up, even though everything shut down! I have to disagree about England having "seasons". Being from Colorado - I'd have to say England was pretty much "cool" for Summer, and just "a little cold" for Winter, even though it's a "wet" cold- it doesn't get anywhere near as cold as here.

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    1. I found November to be pretty miserable as a kid. Once November 5th had past, it seemed like an age until Xmas. The leaves turning brown looked good in Cumbria, but once they fell, you ended up walking around in a sludge of decomposing wet leaves in the cold and dark.

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    2. You should be grateful that in the northern hemisphere, there is Christmas to look forward to. If you live in Australia or New Zealand, Christmas will be in the summer, and there will not be any celebration during the winter (June-August).

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  5. Ha,I've always loved Nov and Dec in the UK ..at least the bright lights are out then,Jan is the worst month

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  6. Paul! Have you stopped blogging? Or just taking a break?

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    1. I just published one today. I got embroiled in other things. But I am going to go back to regular blogging on here!

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  7. At least in the northern hemisphere, there is Christmas to look forward to in the winter, in the southern hemisphere there is absolutely nothing to look forward to in the winter (as Christmas is a summer event). I love Britain with a passion, despite long hours of darkness in the winter and I particularly love seeing London all lit up!

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