everyone has their bad days, yeah? at the moment though it feels like that's been my case for longer than i care to remember, and that can be attributed to one thing and one thing only; the weather. when the autumn started to fade and our 'real' winter began, i could all but rub my hands in glee. coming from australia, a real cold and frosty winter is something i could only ever have dreamt of; snow! ice! a white christmas! it was going to be how all the movies tell you a winter should be, and every year now when those leaves start i turn, i sit back and revel in anticipation...
before hitting the uk i'd never seen real snow before you know. i remember one family trip to mount ruapehu in new zealand's north island as a kid that promised to be nice and snowy. i'd unexpectedly come down with the chicken pox that week though, and spent the whole trip miserable and itchy in the back of the family's people mover while my cousins all played in the fresh powder that had appeared over night. it never actually snowed while we were there though, and it might as well have been the fake stuff that keeps the toboggans running at adelaide's indoor ski slope, mount thebarton (r.i.p).
i waited so long since that first christmas in london for snow; fourteen months actually. when it did come, oh my. it was february sixth, 2012, and boyfriend and i had rebekah around for waitangi day shenanigans. we had 'once were warriors' on the telly, n.z. lamb for dinner and cheeky pavlova (with kiwi!) for dessert. it was just after that scene that boyfriend muttered quietly, "oh look, it's snowing" and within seconds, becks and i were out on the driveway making snow angels out of the fluffy stuff that doesn't really count as snow, but for all intents and purposes, definitely did that night. we were on snow-watch for the rest of the night, and the film was long forgotten.
i'm told 2010 was "a good year for snow" (back in australia all the news reports were worried about was how dannii and her new baby were going to get home for chrismas as heathrow was shut); my london friends regale me with stories about how they all had to cram themselves into soho hotels (here!) overnight as they were unable to get home through the ridiculous storms that inevitably halts all of london's reliable public transport system. such incredible stories, and i'd so looked forward to the day when that would be me; stranded in london! by snow! a dream scenario!
sadly though, we've encountered the wrong kind of storms this year. this year it's all about the bloody rain. the incessant, devastating and property-destroying rain. and the closer to march we inch, the less likely we are to see any of my highly-anticipated snow - especially here in london. this fact makes this whole rainy winter such a bloody waste of my time, and stupidly-high hopes. is there anything more miserable than london on a rainy day? broken umbrellas left, discarded by their owners who'd given up the fight? the army of wellies, stomping their way between bus stops and office doors? the pointless outfit selection swathed in scarves and woolly hats and incredibly unflattering waterproof coats?
no. no there isn't.
but actually, this is my life at the moment. so forgive me for eternal misery.
*written in collaboration with brand. all memories are my own*
