Stay Cool

A lovely week of exploring Wales and other bits of London, and now I'm back at my desk.

Sweltering in the +30 C sun.

I can't tell you how odd it is to write 'sweltering' in the UK, because we rarely get to 'warm' here, let alone 'swelter'. I am exaggerating... slightly. Winters are are relatively mild, and summers are much the same. Honestly, you can pretty much wear the same wardrobe all year round, and it's actually quite good writing weather. Who wants to go outside in the cold drizzle when you can wrap up all cozy and warm and watch others suffer from the comfort of your window?

So when the mercury rises above +25 C, all hell breaks loose. People strip off, exposing flabby white bits and mismatched sandals with yellowed toe-nails. The sun becomes an enemy and all the talk is of a summer dry spell, or even worse -- the dreaded hose-pipe ban (don't ask)!

I don't really care much about any of that. But I do care about getting my pesky edits done. And that's hard to do when the sun is shining in the window of my Victorian terrace home -- the large window, in fact, that doesn't actually open! And no, I don't have air conditioning. I don't know of anyone in the UK who does! I have all the other windows open, letting in the welcome sounds of the drilling, drilling, drilling next door, but I'm still sticking to the chair.

Please tell me: how do you stay cool enough to write in the summer? Should I just give up and go for Pimms?

(FYI - I'm well aware of the irony that I'm complaining about the sun, after months of complaining about the rain!)