Scottish Summer

There are two seasons here--summer and winter. I get that now. The season we are currently experiencing is referred to as summer. That dark moody spell that began around 30 October and lasted 'til Easter--they call that winter.

As a person whose favourite seasons have always been fall and spring (me along with everyone, right?), I kept looking for signs of these seasons, confused to find no clear markers for either. Fortunately, the best part of those seasons--mild weather--is a year-round feature in Scotland. (The average low for the year is 33 F and the average high is 66 F.)

The big difference in the seasons it not so much temperature or weather as it is daylight. Light is the absolute key. In December the sun didn't rise 'til nearly 9:00 and was a memory by 4:00. Today, the sun woke me up at 5:00 and won't let me think about sleep 'til half nine. (And it keeps getting lighter through June!)

In winter I wore a sweater every day and socks all the time. In the summer, I'm barefoot at home, my hoodie stowed in my drawer. In winter I spent evenings curled up on the couch drinking tea. In the summer I soak up every ounce of the long days and sip a cold beer or wine. In winter, soups, warm pastas, and roasted meat and veg were on the menu. In summer, we eat whatever we've picked up fresh from the store and sometimes eat outside. You cannot waste a sunny day.

Scottish winters are hard (but cozy). Scottish summers are the reward.*

*There are still rainy days in summer, which because the temperature is always mild, means rainy days are cold. But still. The good days are SO. UNBELIEVABLY. GOOD. You'll get your stores of pure joy and vitamin D and you'll pickle and preserve them to last you through winter, Little House on the Praire style.