Monday 31 August 2009

Goodbye, summer

The last day of August and, coincidentally (although it happens every six or seven years), the last Monday in August, which means that today is a bank holiday, the last bank holiday until Christmas. Not that that fact bothers me much; after all, every day is like a bank holiday for me except that on most of them we get post delivered. More significant for me is that today is the last day of August and, according to my personal calendar, therefore the last day of summer.

I'm sure that meteorologists have a different definition of the seasons, but for me spring is March, April and May, summer is June, July and August, autumn is September, October and November (the ember days) and winter, logically enough, is December, January and February. I know that doesn't tie in with the chronological (if that's the word I want) seasons given that Mid Summer's Day is in June and the shortest day is in December, but it seems to reflect my view of the passing seasons.

Things do sometimes get a bit out of synch. Most years I am picking blackberries until the middle of September, but already this year we have enough in the freezer for the next twelve months, and the autumn raspberries are just getting into their stride - again, a week or two earlier than normal. Could that be a sign of a bad winter to come, or just a sign of the rotten summer weather we have had this year?

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