Rain, rain, rain

For about a week or more it has been raining almost constantly and it has been quite cool. It's the middle of August, but it somehow feels like autumn has begun. We had some real summer in May or June which was the only time we were able to go to the lake and lie in the sun and swim a few times. After that, it has been cool and cloudy and often very rainy. Sometimes there would be two or three warm days in a row, but never enough for the water to get warm enough for swimming again. We definitely didn't have a proper summer this year. All we did have was cool weather and rain. Sometimes it was so cool we were close to switching the heating on and one time we actually did because our pets were getting too cold.

I'm kind of hoping we will get a nice, warm September, but part of me fears we might have autumn already and it will only get worse. I don't even buy summer clothes anymore because for this year, I certainly have enough summer clothes and don't even know if I will get an apportunity to wear them.

Winter has been quite cold during the past two years and we got a lot of snow. This city is usually quite English when it comes to the climate which means that the people here don't cope well with snow - and neither do trams or busses. Last winter, I once waited about 30 minutes for a bus. Generally, I do like winter because I like Christmas. Life takes place inside, mostly, in comfortable flats and sitting rooms where we can cuddle up and be close. This year, I am already thinking about Christmas presents, determined to avoid the stress right before Christmas because I'm hoping to have the Christmas shopping finished by the end of November. I also prefer wearing long sleeves and jumpers to wearing t-shirts and tops in summer, probably because of the scars on my arms. In summer I have the coice of either wearing long sleeves or being stared at. In winter, I don't have that problem at all.

What I love most, however, is the transition from one season to the next. I love autumn when the leaves on the trees are red, orange, yellow and brown and when they begin to fall. I love sunny autumn days and sometimes I even like rainy days and getting more comfortable inside, getting the warm coats out and the comfortable jumpers. I love winter, the first snow, the first really cold days, because it means that Christmas is close and the end of the year which is a time when it feels like the world is becoming a little more quiet. I love spring, the excitement of sunshine and putting warm clothes away, the awakening, being outside without a jacket for the first time and the happy mood everybody is in on sunny days. And in some way, I even like hot days in summer and the relief a thunderstorm brings. I'm fascinated by the seasons, by how much they influence our lives and by how they make us feel. It is something simple which still brings so much joy and so much beauty.

Right now, I'm in the mood for autumn. That does not mean I wouldn't love a warm September, but part of me is preparing for autumn, for rain, colder weather, wind and falling leaves. We often get very stormy weather in autumn and at night, I sometimes wake up, hear the wind howling around the house, hear the rain against the window and things falling over in the yard and then I pull the duvet tighter around me, hear the pets or my bf breathing and fall back alseep, grateful for our safe, warm place.

And today it is the rain which has inspired me to write this. The rain and the feeling of happiness and being grateful for what we have - which is a lot compared to many people on this planet.