It's Raining Again

The short heatwave is over and everyone feels normal again. The sun hats have been put away with the sunscreen, sunglasses and the shorts. All that expensive garden furniture and BBQ sets that were bought all over the country last week are soaking in the wet, looking very forlorn on the drenched patio. Those plans for the garden have been shelved and the washing which was hung out is now wetter than it was three days ago.

We don't really like hot weather here I believe. When a sunny spell arrives most people don't trust it first and it takes two or three days before they change into suitable clothes. Research in the papers last week questioned the widely held assumption that fine weather makes people happier. Irish Times article here.

Lots of rain poetry and most of it has some metaphoric significance as in Raining in My Heart the B side of Buddy Holly's last release. I remember learning this simple poem by Irene Thompson in primary school long ago. I always liked it and can still say it by heart.

Rainy Nights

I like the town on rainy nights
When everything is wet
When all the town has magic lights
And streets of shining jet;

When all the rain about the town
Is like a looking glass
And all the lights are upside down
Below me as I pass.

In all the pools are velvet skies
And down the dazzling street
A fairy city gleams and lies
In beauty at my feet.

It is used in a 2008 exam question from Malta here. The students are told that looking glass = mirror and that jet = black.

And the weather forecast? Check it here.